LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

*me/<£ 3.5 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



WATER FROM THE WELL-SPRING, 

FOR THE 

SABBATH HOURS OF AFFLICTED BELIEVEES: 

BEING A 

Complete Course of J&ormnjj ant* lEbenfufl J&eTutatlcns 

FOR EVERY SUNDAY IN THE YEAR, 



BY 

EDWARD HENRY BICKERSTETH, M.A., 

RECTOR OF HINTON MARTELL, DORSET. 




" Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." 

—Isaiah, xii. 3. 



NEW YORK: 
ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, 

No. 285 BROADWAY. 
• 1856. 



3 € 



3 



fttfitt. 

This little work was first suggested by the seclu- 
sion of a beloved sister in the chamber of suffering. 
Shut out for many years from the public and social 
means of grace, and tried in a furnace of peculiar 
affliction, she needed, as our now sainted father said 
of her, the richest cordials of Scripture ; and it has 
been a brother's privilege from week to week to 
send her some few lines for her Sabbath medita- 
tions. These having often proved (blessed be 
God !) words in season to her, a selection from 
them has been made, and adapted to more general 
circulation ;* and now, with additional musings on 

* Since these pages were first sent to the press, this be- 
loved sister has fallen asleep in Jesus. The last lines she 
traced in the author's Bible, a few days before her death, 
touchingly express her experience — " Whom the Lord 
loveth He chasteneth." 



VI PKEFACE. 

many kindred passages of the word, the present 
little volume has been formed, which may the God 
of all consolation bless to some sympathizing suf- 
ferer. A few original hymns and poems have been 
added at the close. 

Perhaps any apology for the shortness and un- 
connectedness of these portions is unnecessary, as 
those who are versed in the school of sickness know 
well that it is only a few thoughts expressed in a 
few words which can be borne there. But they 
have been written, and are now sent forth, with 
many prayers that they may be for the glory of 
Jesus and the solace of his afflicted ones. 

Hinton Martell Rectory, 
July, 1852. 



€ a n 1 1 n t s. 



Sunday 
I. Morning^ 

Evening. - 
II. Morning. - 

Evening. - 

III. Morning. - 
Evening. - 

IV. Morning.- 
Evening. - 

V. Morning- 
Evening. - 
VL Morning- 
Evening. - 
VII. Morning.- 
Evening. - 
VIII. Morning.- 
Evening. - 
IX. Morning. - 
Evening. - 
X. Morning. - 
Evening. - 
XL Morning.- 
Evening. - 
XII. Morning.— 
Evening. - 



-" The Beloved One Sick" 
-The Physician's Delay 
-They Serve who Wait 
-" They that Fear Him v . 
-The Midnight Storm 
-The Morning Deliverance 
-Fulness of Joy 
-Occupy with Affliction . 
-Dwelling in Tents 
-Mansions.' 

-Christianity's Telescope 
-Christianity's Microscope 
-Step by step 
-The Right Road . 
-The Profitable Friendship 
-Sinners Welcomed . 
-The Poor in Spirit 
-They that Mourn . 
-The Passing Cloud 
-The Lasting Sunshine 
-Sown in Weakness . 
-Raised in Power 
-0 ye of Little Faith 
-They have believed 



PAGE 

. 11 
13 

■ 16 
17 

. 19 
21 

. 23 
25 

, 27 
29 

. 31 
33 

. 35 
36 

, 39 
40 

, 43 
45 
48 
51 

, 53 
55 
57 
59 



viii 



CONTENTS. 



Sunday 

XIII. Morning.- 
Evening. - 

XIV. Morning - 

Evening. - 
XV. Morning - 
Evening. - 
XVI. Morning- 
Evening. - 
XVII. Morning- 
Evening. - 
Morning.- 
Evening. - 
Morning.- 
Evening. - 
Morning.- 
Evening. - 
Morning.- 
Evening. - 
Morning. - 
Evening. - 
Morning.- 
Evening. - 
Morning.- 
Evening. - 
Morning- 
Evening. - 
Morning- 
Evening. - 
Morning.- 
Evening. - 
Morning.- 
Evening. - 



XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 



-Peter's Fall . 

-Peter's Recovery 

-The Knocking Saviour 

-The Hidden Saint . 

-No Evil Tidings . 

-There is an End 

-Much Unbelief, more Faith . 

-Two Children in diverse Homes 

-The Forgiven Man 

-The Perfect Work . 

-The Gospel Report 

-The Gospel Report . 

-The Arm of the Lord , 

-The Leaning Pilgrim 

-The Cheerful Side of things 

-Look backward and Sing 

-Look around you and Sing 

-Look forward and Sing . 

-Jewels .... 

-Jewels .... 

-The Jewels counted 

-The Jewels claimed. 

-The Wheat . 

-The Wheat gathered 

-The Believer's Intercourse 

-The Believer's Assurance 

-The Pruning Knife 

-Much Fruit . 

-What Grace ha9 done 

-What Grace can do 

-The Leading Apart 

-Goodly Entertainment 



PAGE 

. 62 

64 

. 67 

69 

. 71 

72 

. 74 

76 

. 79 

81 

. 83 

85 

. 87 

89 

. 92 

94 

. 97 

99 

. 102 

104 

. 107 

109 

. Ill 

113 

. 115 

117 

. 120 

122 

. 125 

127 

129 

131 





CONTENTS. 


IX 


Sunday 




PAGE 


XXIX. Morning.- 


-Friendly Tempest 


. 133 


Evening. - 


—The Desired Haven 


. 135 


XXX. Morning.- 


—Mercy, not Sacrifice . 


. 137 


Evening. - 


—The Understanding Friend 


139 


XXXI. Morning.- 


—The Quiet Conquerors 


. 141 


Evening. - 


-The Rebuked Foe . 


. 143 


XXXIL Morning. - 


—Look and Live . 


. 145 


Evening. - 


—Run, Looking 


. 147 


XXXIIL Morning.- 


—A Clearer Sight 


. 149 


Evening. - 


-Perfect Sight 


. 151 


XXXIV. Morning.- 


-What, Lord ? . 


. 154 


Evening. - 


—Read the Sign-posts 


. 155 


XXXV. Morning- 


-The Mysterious " Forward " 


. 159 


Evening. - 


—No Water 


161 


XXXVL Morning.- 


— Amalek's Onset upon Weary 




Israel . 


. 163 


Evening. - 


—The Circuitous Route . 


165 


XXXVII. Morning.- 


-The Sword 


. 167 


Evening. - 


-The Palm 


169 


KXXVIIL Morning.- 


-The Hidden Ones . 


. 171 


Evening. - 


—Secret Life . 


173 


XXXIX. Morning. - 


—The Angels' Spectacle 


. 176 


Evening. - 


—The Viewless Camp 


. 178 


XL. Morning.- 


—The Almighty Keeper 


. 181 


Evening. - 


—The Sympathizing Sufferer 


183 


XLI. Morning.- 


—Collective Support . 


. 185 


Evening. - 


—Individual Sympathy . 


. 187 


XLII. Morning.- 


—Altogether Lovely . 


189 


Evening. - 


—Jesus, the Beloved 


191 


XLIII. Morning.- 


—The Perplexing Alternative 


. 194 


Evening. - 


—The Choice Refused 


. 197 


XLIV. Morning - 


—Home Sickness . 


. 199 


Evening. - 


—Home Welcome 


202 



PAGE 



: CONTENTS. 

Sunday 

XLV. Morning. — Communion in the Furnace 204 

Evening. — Suspend your Judgment . 206 

XL VI. Morning.— -The Fettered Racer . . .209 

Evening. — The Prize Won. . . . 211 

XL VII. Morning. — Simplicity of Principle . .214 

Evening. — Multiplicity of Details . . 216 

XL VIII. Morning. — Handiwork . . . .218 

Evening. — Trade with Pence . . . 221 

XLIX. Morning. — Work Rewarded . . .223 

Evening. — Unequal Comparisons . . 225 

L. Morning. — If Need be . . . .227 

Evening. — Trustfulness .... 229 

LI. Morning. — The " But Nots" of Scripture . 232 

Evening. — Past, Present, Future . . 234 

LII. Morning.— The Victory of Faith . . 236 

-The Victory of Fact . 238 



HYMNS AND POEMS. 

" Consider Him" . 240 

"Jesus Christ the same" 241 

"Arise Ye" . 242 

" Thou art my Rook" 244 

On the Death of R. B. . . 245 

''Abide in me, and I in you" 246 

The Transfiguration . 24 Y 

The Fear of Death removed .... 249 



first gUrniitg. 

THE BELOVED ONE SICK. 

'Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying. Lord, be 
hold, he whom thou Icvest is sick." — John, xi 3. 

Faith and sisterly solicitude are beautifully 
blended in this message. They do not send 
and say, " Lord, we thought thou hadst loved 
our brother, but, alas, he is sick." His sick- 
ness never seems to have shaken for a moment 
their confidence in the love of Jesus. They 
simply sent to acquaint their Lord, feeling as- 
sured, that if he once knew their anxiety, he 
would do all that was requisite, and loving, 
and best. Nor had they miscalculated the 
heart of Jesus. He loved them intensely, 
though for awhile he tried them. It was true 
to the very letter, " he whom thou lovest is 
6ick/ ; Christian mourner, this is for you. 



12 THE BELOVED OKE SICK. 

Notwithstanding sickness, suffering, solitude, 
weakness, weariness, want, you are one that 
Je£us loves. This must be " the wine that 
maketh glad the heart."* Believe me, it never 
loses its restorative virtue. A believer in the 
full glow of health and work can scarcely know 
what unwearying consolation you find in this 
thought, " Jesus loves me, though he chastens, 
and while he chastens." One who is called to 
active service, and a continual succession of 
duties requires the strong meat, and varied 
diet appropriate to his labor. But you are 
constrained to " commune with your own heart 
upon your bed, and be still ;"f you are fed 
from week to week with the same unvarying 
"bread of affliction, and water of affliction," 
and you find it a rich reviving cordial for every 
hour of faintness to remember " whom the 
Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father 
the son in whom he delighteth." $ 

* Psa. civ. 15. f Psa. iv. 4. J Prov. iii. 12. 



THE PHYSICIAN'S DELAY. 13 



EVENING. 

THE PHYSICIAN'S DELAY. 

'Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 
When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he 
ahode two days still in the same place where he 
was." — John, xi. 5, 6. 

There is something very remarkable in that 
word " therefore." I feel sure that if you had 
given human reason the fifth verse, "Now 
Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and La- 
zarus," and asked for the legitimate inference, 
the sixth verse would have continued thus, 
" When he had heard, therefore, that he was 
sick, he hasted and went at once to Bethany." 
But as the heavens are higher than the earth, 
so are his ways higher than our ways, and his 
thoughts than our thoughts, *■ — and he "abode 
two days still in the same place where he was." 

We can easily picture the intense anxiety 
of the sisters — Will our messenger reach the 
Lord in time ? will our urgent necessity ap- 

* Isaiah, lv. 9, 

2 



14 THE PHYSICIAN'S DELAY. 

pear? will lie come at once? And when 
sufficient time had elapsed for his arrival, what 
painful and fruitless conjectures as to his ab- 
sence ! Jesus was not unmindful of their deep 
distress. Witness the serenity with which, 
when his hour was come, he fearlessly returned 
to Judea, where " the Jews had sought to stone 
him;"* — witness how, when he saw Mary 
weeping, and her friends weeping with her, he 
groaned in the spirit, and was troubled f — wit- 
ness how he wept and groaned again, though 
he knew that then one brief hour would turn 
their mourning into joy ; — still, with the keen- 
est appreciation of all they were going through, 
because he loved Martha, and her sister, and 
Lazarus, " he abode two days still in the same 
place where he was." 

The reason is no mystery to us now — for 
we know the sequel. Through his delay his 
mightiest miracle was wrought. Suffering 
saint, you are passing through the furnace. 
You know not wfrat Jesus is doing now ; you 

* John, xi. 7-10. t J oliD > ». 33. 






THE PHYSICIAN'S DELAY. 15 

see not the bright sequel. Take comfort from 
the family of Bethany. For yon, too, eternal 
blessings are connected with protracted afflic- 
tion. 






THEY SERVE WHO WAIT. 

11 And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gra- 
cious unto you. . . . Blessed are all they that 
wait for him " — Isaiah, ixz. 18. 

" They also serve who only stand and wait." 
How fully is Milton here borne out by Scrip- 
ture, wherein waiting is so frequently com- 
mended, as one of the highest and most diffi- 
cult of duties. The captain of an army knows 
full well that he has given the most trying 
order, when he has commanded his troops to 
endure and not to return the enemy's fire. 
This is the highest proof of discipline. And 
we have the blessed assurance, not merely that 
the general conduct of our " corps" shall be 
observed, but that each momentary and individ- 
ual act is under the immediate eye of our great 
Captain ; for " The eyes of the Lord are upon 



THEY THAT FEAR HIM. 17 

the righteous, and his ears are open unto their 
cry."* Their cry, not their prayer here, in set 
words ; but the wishful moan, the faintest de- 
pendent look, he knows, and appreciates, and 
ansAvers. 



EVENING. 
THEY THAT FEAE HIM. 

" Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord piti- 
eth them that fear him." — Psa ciii. 13. 

A gracious title, " them that fear him ;" a 
child's fear, a description of the Lord's people 
w hich is peculiarly tender and consoling. For, 
when we cannot feel the glow of love, and the 
conscious strength of faith, still we may have 
such a child-like fear of offending and grieving 
God, that we would, his grace enabling us, go 
to the stake rather than do what we knew to 
be contrary to his will. When temptations 
may cloud our soul, and almost entangle our 

* Psa. xxxiv. 15. 

2* 



18 THEY THAT FEAR HIM. 

reason, so that, like Christian in the valley of 
the shadow of death, we scarcely know whether 
the suggestions which trouble us be the voice of 
Satan, or of our own corrupt hearts ; still it is 
this fundamental grace of the fear of God which 
makes these thoughts so distressing, so hateful, 
so wretched. A soul " in its prosperity" may 
feast on more intimate and endearing titles of 
God's chosen ones ; but a tried and tempted 
believer will draw exquisite solace from this, 
" them that fear the Lord." Of such God says, 
"Like as a father, so do I pity them." 



®|irir Darning, 

THE MIDNIGHT STORM. 

' And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to 
get into a ship, and go "before him unto the other 
side." — Matt. xiv. 22. 

How mysterious, and yet how gracious an 
introduction to the account of the storm that 
follows ! Did not Jesus know that the tempest 
was coming, that the wind would be contrary, 
that £he waves would rise, and that his disci- 
ples would be weary and dismayed ? Doubt- 
less he knew, and yet he constrained them to 
go before him. O afflicted believer, " tossed 
with tempest, and not comforted,"* to whose 
lips the question of Gideon often rises, " If the 
Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen 
us ?"f do not think, because you are in the 
path of trial, and suffering, and conflict, that 

* Isa. liv. 11. f Judges, vi. 1 3. 



20 THE MIDNIGHT STORM. 

you are not in the path of duty and of blessing. 
The disciples were following the express wishes 
of their Master, when all these things came 
upon them. 

But, to explain this apparently mysterious 
compulsion, look at the close of the narrative : 
" They that were in the ship came and wor- 
shipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the 
Son of God." If you were to ask any believer 
what blessing he would choose above every 
other, being conscious that earthly good can- 
not be desired unreservedly, he would esteem 
none equal to an increase of grace, or of that 
which is the spring and root of other graces — 
of faith. So here, then, the disciples attained 
the highest possible good. Jesus might not 
have suffered them to embark on the eve of 
that tempestuous night ; but he knew that no 
real harm would befall them, and that they 
would gain a mighty accession to their weak 
and wavering confidence. Yet his heart sym- 
pathized with all their distress. Doubtless he 
pleaded for them on that lonely mountain-top, 



THE MORNING DELIVERANCE, 21 

as now for us on the right hand of God; and 
at the very moment, which his infinite love 
and wisdom selected as the best, he appeared 
on their behalf. What he did in that con- 
strained embarkation, they knew not, when 
struggling with the waves ; but they knew on 
the morrow, and will thank hiu for it through- 
out eternity. 



EVENING. 
THE MORNING DELIVERANCE. 

* In the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto 
them, walking on the sea." — Matt, yiv. 25. 

This narrative of the storm is full of com- 
fort for the suffering saint. Consider a few 
things that distinguish the time and manner 
of his advent to them, and see if there be not 
hope for you in your affliction. He came, (1), 
after long toiling, in the fourth or last watch ; 
(2), in a season of darkness and perplexity — it 



22 THE MORNING DELIVERANCE. 

was still night ; (3), on tlie very scene of their 
distress, on the sea ; (4), in a way they least 
expected it ; so that at first they mistrusted 
their deliverer. (5.) He came unto them — not 
near them, and passed by — but, like the good 
Samaritan, came where they were ; (6), and 
with what a message ! — " Be of good cheer ; it 
is I; be not afraid." Does language afford 
more exquisite consolation ? (7.) It was Jesus 
who came. What a helper! How gentle, 
how mighty, how glorious, how beloved ! The 
sea was calm, the ship was steady, they happy 
in his love and in his company, and soon at 
rest upon the desired shore. 



$0«rtjj Horning. 

FULNESS OF JOY. 

* These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy 
might remain in you, and that your joy might be 
full."— JOHtf, xv. 11. 

This verse is significant as containing the 
ultimate object of all God's dealings with his 
children. I apprehend, from the Greek, that 
the meaning of the first clause is plainly, " that 
my joy in you might remain or be perpetual." 
The word translated " remain" is the same as 
that rendered " abide " in all the previous 
verses of the chapter. The two great objects, 
then, in God's purposes of grace are, first, 
Christ's joy in his people, and then, the fulfil- 
ment of their joy in him. How sweet and 
blessed a result from all the discipline of this 
life ! Whether lie instruct his children by his 
word, as then he taught his disciples, or by 



24 FULNESS OF JOY. 

suffering, or by mercies, or by ministers ; how- 
ever lie speaks to them, this is the consumma- 
tion he seeks and surely will attain — the seeing 
of " the travail of his soul "* in them, and their 
full participation in his eternal bliss. Unless 
they were taught, and disciplined, and chas- 
tened, and renewed into his image by his 
Spirit, he could not " rest in his love "f on 
them, nor would their joy be fulfilled (nXrjQcoO^), 
The world seeks happiness in its way, wins the 
pleasures of sin for a moment, and plunges into 
an eternity of remorse. The flock of Jesus, 
led by him through the thorny wilderness, 
reach at length, joy, perfect joy, before the 
throne : a joy that can never weary, for it is 
the reflection of the infinite bliss of Jesus upon 
the stainless mirror of their regenerate souls. 
Jesus' joy in them abides perpetual ; their joy 
consequently, by a blessed necessity, has a per- 
petual fulfilment in him ; for they abide in his 
love, even as he abides in his Father's love* 
* Isa. liii 11. f Zeph. iii. 11. 



OCCUPY WITH AFFLICTION. 25 

EVENING. 

OCCUPY WITH AFFLICTION. 

" Occupy till I come."— Luke, xix. 13. 

Many that are last shall be first. Perhaps, 
suffering believer, you have the most prosper . 
ous trade of any of us ; and are laying out 
your talents so as to produce the most lucra- 
tive interest. How much of Jesus' work, when 
on earth, consisted in suffering ! And you, too, 
occupy even while you suffer. " Occupy till 
I come." what a world of wonder, what an 
eternity of rapture, lies behind that little word 
" till-!" It is the narrow wicket to a paradise 
of glory. When once that " till " is fulfilled, 
no more conflict, no more coldness, no more 
suffering, no more sin ; but peace, and commu- 
nion, and joy, and such a sea of love as would 
overflood our poor earthly hearts. You can- 
not run away from your suffering or your sor- 
row, but you can trade with them as talents, and 
3 



26 OCCUPY WITH AFFLICTION. 

think of the reckoning day, when to those who 
are reconciled to God in Christ Jesus, their 
light momentary affliction works out for them 
an eternal weight of glory.* 

* 2 Cor. iv. 17. 



Jfift ft Itflnung- 

DWELLING IN TENTS, 

11 Strangers and 'pilgrims on the earth..' 5 — Heb. xi. 13. 

Strangers, and yet the human heart is 
made for home : it expands under home love, 
like flowers under genial warmth. Pilgrims ; 
and yet who longs not for rest, for something 
of permanence and continuance? Strangers 
and pilgrims on the earth ; surely this has an 
aspect of mournful vagrancy at first. Yet, be- 
liever, view it through the perspective glass of 
faith, and it will be lit up with the sunlight of 
our everlasting home. Imagine for a moment 
that it had been written, " We are settlers and 
permanent habitants here on earth." " What I" 
you exclaim, "with these hearts of ours, s<? 
prone to grieve the Saviour whom we love ; 



28 DWELLING IN TENTS. 

with these conflicts ever gathering around us, 
in this world of sin and sorrow — permanent 
occupants of this ? No : who prays not, Oh 
that I had wings like a dove ; for then would 
I hasten my escape from the windy storm and 
tempest ?"* 

Though we can thus argue the superiority 
of our pilgrim character most unanswerably, 
it is, I apprehend, a lesson which nothing but 
the frequent trials and vicissitudes of life can 
teach. For we are no sooner settled for a short 
season among friends or places, than our hearts 
send forth countless little fibres in every direc- 
tion, and root themselves into every penetrable 
crevice of affection. And were it not for the 
numerous transplantings, or at least the fre- 
quent diggings about the roots, we should 
become like the gnarled oak, immovably 
wedded to the soil of our birth. Yet these 
clingings to home prove that we were not 
created for an eternity of "chances and of 
changes." Nor need we have the least anxiety 

* Psal. v. 6-8. 



MANSIONS. 29 

lest we should ever continue in this nomad and 
wandering state, for " there remaineth a rest 
to the people of God."* 



EVENING. 
MANSIONS, 



" In my Father's house are many mansions." 

— John, xiv, 2. 

How does the reflection cast from the sunlit 
turrets of this our Father's home brighten the 
gloom of our pilgrim way ! The apostle says, 
11 Here have we no continuing (jievovuuv} city."f 

" Sad truth, were this to be our home !" 

But see in this firm promise of our Saviour an 
abundant reply to every apprehension : " In 
my Father's house are many mansions (>o*«/)." 
The words are from the same root in the 
Greek. That is, what earth has not, heaven 
has ; what time asks in vain, eternity supplies, 

* Heb. iv. 9. f Heb. xiii. 14. 



SO MANSIONS. 

perpetuity, citizenship, rest, — in one word, 
home. How easily does the home-bound trav- 
eller smile at the credulity of those who com- 
miserate his wandering life ! And yet many 
things may hinder his anticipated welcome. 
Accidents may befall him. He may never 
reach his home, or reach it and find 

" The hearth, the hearth is desolate ; the fire is quenched 
and gone, 
That into happy children's eyes, once brightly laughing, 
shone." 

And shall we, Christian pilgrims, be down- 
hearted ? We are homeward-bound. We are 
sure of a welcome. For thither "the Fore- 
runner is for us entered."* He is preparing 
the place for us, and us for the place. He has 
gone to his Father's house, his Father's and 
ours : and soon will he cry, " Come, ye blessed, 
inherit."f 

* Heb. vi. 20 f Matt xxv. 34. 



CHRISTIANITY'S TELESCOPE. 

''The time is short." — 1 Cor. vii. 29. 

How do these few pregnant words trans- 
form the pilgrim's prospect ! It is like look- 
ing through a telescope on a distant planet: 
every other distracting object is shut out, and 
the far-off world, which glimmered only like a 
point before, brightens, and widens, and ab- 
sorbs every thought with its untold marvels. 
But some will answer, " While time is, it seems 
long." Be it so — its semblance cannot touch 
its reality. It is short. We are not using a 
distorting glass, when we look at all things 
through this medium, but a glass which en- 
ables us in some degree to overcome the 
inferiority of our position, to divest near 
objects of their fictitious magnitude, and to 



32 CHRISTIANITY'S TELESCOPE. 

bring distant realities into their due propor- 
tion. There is indeed much skill in "using 
this celestial telescope, and in adjusting to a 
right focus its lucid and powerful lenses. 
Some are afraid of meditating much on this 
truth, lest it should take off their thoughts 
from present duties. But they are like an 
unskilful peasant, who throws an eye-glass 
from him on the first trial, complaining he can 
see nothing but dimness and confusion, and 
that the field he walks in is enough for his 
purpose. This telescope only needs prayer 
and practice. Use it, believer, often upon 
your knees, and you shall exclaim with the 
confident apostle, " Our light affliction, which 
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far 
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. "* 
* 2 Cor. iv. 17. 



CHRISTIANITY'S MICROSCOPE. 33 

EVENING. 
CHRISTIANITY'S MICROSCOPE. 

' I will -water it every moment : lest any hurt jt, I will 
keep it night and day." — Isa. xxvii. 3. 

Yes, Christianity has its microscope as well 
as its telescope. Do not suffer unbelief to sug- 
gest, " My God and Father inhabiteth eternity, 
with him one day is as a thousand years, and 
a thousand years as one day : he sitteth upon 
the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants 
thereof are as grasshoppers ; — what can the 
sufferings of a few weeks or years seem in his 
sight? are they not less than nothing and 
vanity ?" Blind unbelief ! that my Father is 
infinite and eternal, warrants my assurance 
that he appreciates every hour's suffering, and 
with all a parent's solicitude counts up the 
moments of my grief. Were there any limit 
to his infinity, my sorrow would be merged in 
the tide of a world's calamities. But now the 
everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the 



34 CHRISTIANITY'S MICROSCOPE. 

ends of the earth, giveth power to the faint.* 
Ee that dwells in the high and holy place also 
Iwells with and revives the humble contrite 
spirit. f No sigh of his children is wasted on 
the winds, no tear falls upon the sand. Ee- 
member he has taught us to pray, " Put thou 
my tears into thy bottle : are they not in thy 
book?"* 

* Isa. xl. 28, 29. f Isa - lvii - 15 « Psa - lvi - 8 - 



STEP BY STEP. 

" The steps of a good man are ordered b} its l ord. n 
Psa. xxxvii. 23. 

Here it is not said, the whole cov rse of life 
— the commencement, outline, and issue of a 
good man's pathway — but his steps a^e ordered. 
This is the lesson of our childhood^ but it is 
one we daily need in the riper years of our 
spiritual life. Are we not continually saying 
in our hearts, " Oh, if I could but see the end 
of this trying dispensation, I should not so 
much mind the immediate suffering, but I 
know not how long it may last, or what will 
be its result? I could well bear doubt and 
darkness for a few weeks, if I were sure that 
then all would be certainty and sunshine.'' O 
believer, whence these misgivings ? You con* 



36 THE RIGHT BO AD. 

fess that at present, according to the faithful 
promise, you are not tempted or tried above 
what you are able to bear.* That confession 
will prove the germ of assurance in the soil of 
faith. What have you to do with the mor- 
row ? the morrow shall take thought for the 
things of itself. Do not even during one half 
hour burden yourself with the anxieties of the 
next. The Lord will have his children go 
step by step. And be of good comfort ; every 
step is ordered, and every step is a step nearer 
home. 



EVENING. 
THE RIGHT ROAD. 



"He led them forth hy the right "way, that they might 
go to a city of habitation. " — Psa. cvii. 7. 

But you ask, M Is not man a prospective 
creature ? Can he be content that the pres- 
ent is well ordered, without many inquisitive 

* l Cor. x. 13. 



THE EIGHT ROAD. 37 

glances at the future ? Why then is this inex- 
tinguishable love of anticipation implanted with- 
in us ?" True, my friend ; — the gospel does not 
quench one glowing emotion which rises to- 
wards future blessedness. It only controls 
those impatient forebodings of our fallen hearts, 
as to whether the several stages of our pilgrim- 
age are well and wisely planned, and whether 
our wisdom could not devise a less painful 
circuit. It assures us, once for all, of unspeak- 
able bliss at the close of our journey ; and 
thus gently disentangling our affections from 
the transient and the temporal, fastens them 
securely on the enduring and the eternal. But 
this is not all ; in the words of our motto, it 
gives us ground for the most unlimited confi- 
dence, that every part is defined by the same 
loving wisdom that ordains the whole. Light 
often breaks in as we go onward ; though 
sometimes, in the words of the poor Scotch 
woman to her famishing child, "Ye maun 
trust him where ye canna trace him."* And, 

* From " The Highland Glen." 
4 



38 THE EIGHT ROAD. 

ere long, in that city of habitation, shall we 
remember all the way the Lord our God has 
led us these many years in the wilderness, to 
humble us, and to prove us, and — as we shall 
then with an emphasis of joy confess — to do 
us good at our latter end.* 

* Deut. viii. 16. 



$W\ $t anting. 

THE PROFFERED FRIENDSHIP. 

" I will loe with, him in trouble." — Psa. xci. 15. 

Lsr a letter from one, who has long since 
been removed from a bed of extreme suffering 
to her rest above, I find this message, " Tell 

to cleave to Jesus, and she will find 

affliction one of her greatest blessings, though 
it be for the present not joyous but grievous." 
This, from so great a sufferer, is precious tes- 
timony. Oh, surely many of us must feel as 
if yet we knew scarcely anything of Jesus, 
of his love, of that tender brotherly friend- 
ship with which he wound fain gladden our 
pilgrim path. The ransomed criminal con- 
versing with his sovereign forgets the wounds 
where the fetters have chafed him. Why do 
not we ? Does not the conviction force itself 
upon our mind, that wherever we are, what- 



4:0 SINNEES WELCOMED. 

ever doing, whatever suffering, we possess, io 
the proffered friendship of Jesus, capabilities 
for the richest enjoyment a poor sinner can 
have, out of heaven ? And affliction, as David 
knew well, is the Lord's chosen time for com 
munion. " Thou hast considered my trouble," 
he sings ; " thou hast known my soul in ad 
versities."* Or, as I have heard it said, " It is 
the sick child whom the mother has oftenest 
upon her lap." And yet, I grant you, these 
Kght afflictions seem to press heavily ; — cleave 
then to Jesus, and we shall find that he, un- 
awares to us, has shifted the burden to himself. 



EVENING. 

SINNERS WELCOMED. 

"This man receiveth sinners." — Luke, xv. 2. 

Yes, this intercourse with the Lord Jesus 
requires us continually to recur to the gospel 

* Psa. xxxi. 7. 



SINNERS WELCOMED. 41 

terms, on which alone we can acquaint our- 
selves with God, and be at peace :* or our 
spirit, especially when tried and harassed, 
will faint and shrink back from the Divine 
glory of this society. " This man receiveth 
sinners." Sinners ; no other recommendation 
needed, f He came into the world to call and 
to save sinners — weary, woful, weeping sin- 
ners; these are the invited ones. Received — 
everything is contained in that : if received, 
then chosen, called, pardoned, robed, renewed, 
smiled upon, welcomed, embraced, admitted 
to fellowship. By a Man, " the man Christ 
Jesus ; W J that secures fellow-feeling, power of 
sympathy, acquaintance with human wants 
and woes. By this Man; "the Word was 
madeflesh."§ Here is the sum of consolation, 
received by Emmanuel, the Mighty God, the 
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the 
Good Physician, the Saviour of the lost. 
Search and look if in the whole compass of 

* Job, xxii. 21. t 1 Tim. i. 15. 

% 1 Tim. ii. 5. § John, i. 14. 



£2 SINNERS WELCOMED. 

human distress you can find one grief this fel- 
lowship will not assuage. " This man re- 
ceiveth sinners." Oh, muse on this — ruminate 
on this for hours, for you will find exhaustless 
nourishment herein. 



lliittfo lUntin^ 

THE POOR IN SPIRIT. 

* Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the king- 
dona of heaven." — Matt. v. 3. 

"Well may afflicted believers rejoice in the 
beatitudes, and often drink of their quiet con- 
solations, and luxuriate in their blessedness; 
for, precious as they are to all, they shed a pe- 
culiarly tranquil light in the chamber of sor- 
row. You might search all heathen authors 
through, and find no sympathy like this. In- 
deed they stand opposed to the very spirit of 
the world, which praises the high-spirited, the 
mirthful, the victorious, and shuns with heart- 
less pity the meek-spirited, the broken-hearted, 
the crushed. Be of good cheer, Christian suf- 
ferer ; those whom the world commiserates, 
Jesus congratulates. And we may say with 



44 THE POOR IN SPIRIT. 

far truer assurance than Balak, " I wot that he 
whom thou blessest is blessed."* Suffering, 
silence, seclusion — ah, this is a congenial cli- 
mate for poverty of spirit, which grows best 
like the lilly of the valley, shadowed and shel- 
tered. Wherefore are the children of the king- 
dom poor in spirit ? From feeling their sin 
to be exceeding sinful, from casting them- 
selves suppliantly on the Lord for mercy, from 
receiving pardon and righteousness from him, 
from learning daily their own weakness, from 
living daily as pensioners on his bounty, from 
imbibing his spirit of humility, from anticipa- 
tions of glory undeserved. Wherefore are 
they blessed? They are possessors of the 
kingdom of heavenly grace, they are inheritors 
of the kingdom of heavenly glory. Our Lord 
sums them both here in the promise, " Theirs 
is the kingdom of heaven." The Bible never 
seems very careful to distinguish between the 
kingdom of grace and that of glory. Some- 
times the kingdom of God is spoken of as 

* Numbers, xxii. 6. 



THEY THAT MOURN, 45 

being " within you ;"* at others, as being es- 
tablished when Jesus returns.f But the dis- 
tinction is not material. They are inseparably 
connected, like the flower with its root. Blessed 
art thou, suffering member of the kingdom of 
grace, for thine is the kingdom of glory. 



EVENING. 
THEY THAT MOURN. 



"Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall "be 
comforted." — Matt. v. 4. 

Some of the sweetest thoughts of Scripture 
are drawn from truths apparently contradic- 
tory. Some are indeed beyond our present 
skill fully to harmonize; but those which, 
being revealed, display more exquisite and 
hidden virtues, are a pledge that none are 
really irreconcilable. Such is this beatitude. 
Mourners, Eeason says, they must be unhappy : 

* Luke, xvii. 21. f Matt. xxv. 1. 



46 THEY THAT M0UBN. 

Scripture answers, they are blessed. If Beasou 
grows uneasy, point to the beauty of yonder 
sun-set cloud. A cloud — there is something 
in its very name bespeaking shadow and 
gloom; yet who feels not that, impregnated 
with roseate light, it is the most glorious 
object in that western sky? Thus affliction 
is to the Christian one of his " bright clouds."* 
All the fragrance of chastened joy exhales 
from his chamber of mourning. The dew 
which falls so gloomily as nightly mist, is 
needful for the watering and beauty of the 
flower; and adds diamond brightness when 
the sun arises, and the shadows flee away. 
Every believer is one of " those who mourn" 
for sin, and often mourn in sorrow. Thus 
there is in him a well-spring of tender sym- 
pathy, which the world cannot know. The 
natural heart escapes the dew of Christian 
sorrow ; but its joy withers like " the heath 
in the desert."f The believer's soul is "as 
a watered garden.^ 

* Zech. x. 1. f Jer. xvii. 6. X ^ er - ^^ 12 * 



THEY THAT MOURN. 47 

" Innumerable as the stars of night, 
Or stars of morning, — dew-drops, which the sun 
Impearls on every leaf and every flower, — * 

the rain-drops hang on every spray ; and in 
all is the Sun of righteousness reflected with 
every prismatie ray of light and love. 

* Milton's " Paradise Lost," v. 745. 



®ent^ Horning* 

THE PASSING CLOUD. 

" O my G-od, my soul is cast down within me."— 

Psa. xiii 6. 

It is a frequent danger with young Chris- 
tians, in the early stages of their experience, 
to trust too much to their frames and feelings 
of mind, to think themselves safe when they 
are happy, and to fear that they are unsafe 
when unhappy. And this is a temptation 
that may peculiarly beset them when, with- 
drawn from the bracing employments of active 
life, they are compelled to a feed on thoughts " 
m the chamber of sickness, and he passive be- 
neath the shadows or the gleams which fleet 
over the inner man. Yet. most true it is, that 
spiritual depression is a matter not of ground- 
less •imaginatioD, but of sad experience; that 



THE PASSING CLOUD. 49 

there are seasons when those " who fear the 
Lord walk in darkness, and have no light;"* 
that there are times, often and suddenly cloud- 
ing unusual felicity of soul, when the Lord 
hideth his face, and we are troubled;! and 
when, with the psalmist, we are compelled to 
confess, "O my God, my soul is cast down 
within me." Yet, may we not take comfort 
even from our very griefs ? Does the world 
know anything of sorrow from the hidings of 
God's countenance, from the stragglings of 
inward corruption ? Nay ; they have not ex- 
perienced spiritual sunshine : how should they 
mourn the want of it ? They have not known 
spiritual peace : how should they be disquieted 
for the lack of it ? Every believer has found 
in the Psalms the utterance of his own fears 
and anxieties, breathings and cries. Take 
courage, fellow-soldier; it is no mean proof 
that thou art in the King's army, when the 
experience of those who have fought and 
fallen in his cause expresses thine own, and 

* Isaiah, L 10. t See Pea, xxx. 5-7. 

5 



50 THE PASSING CLOUD. 

every watchword they used just suits thy case. 
And consider this lamentation, with which 
you so deeply sympathize, a little more closely, 
and it will go hard but that you may wring 
from it unexpected consolation. " O my God," 
mourns David, "my soul is cast down within 
me." What means this cry? Question it 
rigidly ; be not content with a first impress- 
ion ; and when pressed for an answer, it will 
reply, " Be of good cheer." " my gracious 
sovereign," exclaims the favoured subject, " I 
am anxious about my prospects." "0 my 
dear father," laments the fostered child, " who 
will support me, tend me, love me?" " my 
brother," cries the beloved friend, " to whom 
shall I look for sympathy?" Is there not a 
strange contradiction here ? Does not the 
first clause of the complaint abundantly satisfy 
the desponding close ? Muse on this, depressed 
Christian ; it applies to you. 



THE LASTING SUNSHINE. 51 

EVENING. 
THE LASTING SUNSHINE. 

'Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art 
thou disquieted within me ? Hope thou in God."— 
Psa, xlii. 11. 

King David had been sorely tempest-tossed. 
Deep called unto deep ; all the waves and bil- 
lows of affliction had passed over him ; but 
now he casts out his anchor— even the anchor 
of hope, " which entereth into that within the 
veil."* And see how gallantly the shattered 
vessel rights itself, and bears up against the 
storm. But on what rock does his hope 
fasten ? Even on God himself: " Hope thou 
in God." He ceases to muse on sunny days 
gone by,— he no longer fixes his eye on the 
raging of the tempestuous ocean, — he turns 
from himself, his memories, and his fears, and 
rests on the unchanging certainty of the power 
and love of God. Herein may we spel] out a 
most momentous lesson. Our safety depends 
not on our consciousness of safety, neither 

* Heb. vi. 19. 



52 THE LASTING SUNSHINE. 

does our danger consist in our sense of peril. 
But we rest on certain great unshifting, un- 
changing facts. " Grod is love."* " Christ 
Jesus came into the world to save sinners."f 
" Whosoever belie veth in him shall not per- 
ish. n £ These great truths rise above our 
frames and feelings. Let us only satisfy our- 
selves that we have renounced every other 
ground of confidence, and are relying only on 
Jesus, as "the propitiation for our sins,"§ and 
we may, with David, rebuke our disquietude, 
and ask — " Why art thou cast down, my 
soul?" For, all our alarms never quench 
one beam of that blessed sun-light. Earth 
— or, rather, our little nest upon it — may be 
in shadow, but the spacious firmament is 
flooded with a sea of light; and, remember, 
clouds are in their very nature movable and 
evanescent. 

His love is constant as the sun, 

Though clouds oft come between ; 
And could our faith but pierce those clouds, 

He might be alwa} r s seen. 

• 1 John, iv. 8. f 1 T im - 15 « X JM«i Hi ^ § * J ° hn > B. % 



SOWN IN WEAKNESS. 

"It is sown in weakness." — 1 Cor. xv. 43. 

We may surely extend the application of 
this sowing beyond the hour of death, to the 
Christian's whole life on earth, which is so 
often compared in Scripture to the seed time of 
an eternal harvest* Suffering child of Jesus, 
how true is it of you, " sown in weakness I" 
How many enjoyments are you shut out from ; 
how many occupations must you daily resign ; 
how many paths of intellectual activity are 
closed to you I Be of good cheer, your seed- 
time is one of weakness ; your grain of wheat 
has been hid somewhat more deeply in the soil 
than others, and so has had to struggle with a 
heavier burden up to the pure light; but I 
* GaL vi. % 8. 
5* 



54 SOWN IN WEAKNESS. 

doubt not it has struck its fibrous roots into a 
richer vein of mould, and when emancipated 
and clothed in " that body that shall be,"* will 
be the more exquisite in hue, and form, and 
fragrance for its long and sanctified humilia- 
tion. Cheerfully confide in the husbandry of 
Jesus, and you shall extract fruitful nourish- 
ment from the darkness and seclusion of your 
trial. He has hidden you, but he has not for- 
gotten you. Is your soul at times refreshed ? 
I know it is. Ah, this is the dew of his Spirit, 
and the token of his love. Think you afflic- 
tion of itself would yield you any spiritual 
recreation ? Nay, it would be as barren as the 
desert sand. For it is the Lord who makes 
" bright clouds," and gives " showers of rain ;"f 
and that earth only " which drinketh in the 
rain that cometh oft upon it receiveth blessings 
from God."$ 

* 1 Cor. xv. 37. f Zech - *• 1- X Heb. vi. 1. 



RAISED IX POWER. 55 

EVENING. 

BAISED IiN POWER. 

"It is raised in poorer." — 1 Cor. xv. 43 

Yes, many and costly are the sacrifices 
which a Christian sufferer is called to make. 
The crown is a reality, and the cross is not a 
shadow. The joy of active service, the hilarity 
of the family circle, the chastened cultivation 
of taste, the delight of Christian society, and, 
chiefest of privations, the assembly in the 
courts of the Lord ; — these and many name- 
less enjoyments which only they w^ho have 
long been laid upon the bed of languishing 
can appreciate, is he daily called to resign. 
They seem lost and buried. But in the fresh 
springtide of the resurrection, how shall every 
suspended power start into new life and effort- 
less activity ! Each one shall be raised in 
power. Then and there shall he enjoy the 
untoilsome exercise of every faculty and affec- 
tion, for " his servants shall serve him ;"* we 

* Rev. xxii. 3. 



56 RAISED IX POWER. 

shall dwell in the mansions of our Father's 
house ; we shall contemplate the glories of the 
new Jerusalem, and the landscape of the ever- 
lasting hills; we shall join those harpers, harp- 
ing on their harps, who fill the courts above 
with the swell of their ceaseless hallelujahs ; 
we shall imbibe no longer the partial, childlike 
knowledge of earth, but the wisdom derived 
immediately from Jesus,* and the interchange 
of thought betwixt the holy intelligences of 
heaven; we shall have our place in the 
heavenly circle, when "the whole family "f is 
gathered into one home, which no losses can 
sadden, and no fears disturb ; and we shall 
share the unutterable rapture of the worship 
before the throne, in the temple of God, ad- 
mitted by the Son of his love, through the 
communion of the Spirit, into the presence- 
chamber of his Father and our father, his God 
and our God. These things are yours, suffer- 
ing believer. Wait, only wait. 

* 1 Cor. xiii. 9-12. f Ephes. iii. 15. 



YE OF LITTLE FAITH. 

"Why are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith ?" 
Matt. viii. 26. 

Perhaps some reader will complain — " You 
have not fathomed my grief yet. These re- 
flections are very suitable to a Christian of 
strong faith. I can understand how his light 
affliction seems not worthy to be compared 
with his exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 
But my faith is so feeble and so flickering, at 
times I doubt whether I am a believer at all ; 
and when conflict of soul combines with suffer 
ing of body, truly 4 the heart knoweth its own 
bitterness. 7 " My poor brother, deeply do I 
feel for and with you. It may help us, how- 
ever, to consider the faith of the disciples, and 
see whether it knew anything of these fearful 



58 O YE OF LITTLE FAITH. 

fluctuations. Let us trace its course. There 
was the faith of following ;* they really had 
some faith, or they never would have followed. 
There was the faith of fuller conviction, after 
his first miracle, f when it is recorded, " His 
disciples believed on him." There was the 
earnest desire for more faith4 There was a 
ripened faith in his Divinity. § But is this 
cheering view the only aspect Scripture pre- 
sents of their belief? Far from it. See their 
faith in weakness. Four times does Jesus ad- 
dress them, " O ye of little faith."|| And on 
one mournful occasion, when their faith had 
signally failed, he makes no distinction between 
them and the unbelieving world, but addresses 
the keen rebuke to all, " faithless and per- 
verse generation.''^ Dear brother, think not I 
would lower the standard of scriptural faith. 
There would be no true solace in that. But 
do you not truly believe that Jesus is the Son 

* John, i. 37, 43. f J°bn, & 11 - 

\ Luke, xvii. 5. § Matt. xiv. 33 ; xvi. 16. 

| Matt. vi. 30 ; viii. 26 ; xiv. 31 • xvi. 8. ^f Matt. xvii. 11 



THEY HAVE BELIEVED. 59 

of God ? Would you not lay down your life 
for this truth ? have you not staked your eter- 
nity on this ? have you not been to him ? have 
you not east your guilt upon him? are you 
not clinging to him ? are you not thirsting for 
his Spirit ? would you not by his grace follow 
whithersoever he leads % l is it not your earnest 
prayer, "Lord, increase my faith?" Be of 
good cheer. Though you be numbered among 
those of little faith, " a bruised reed shall he 
not break, and the smoking flax shall he not 
quench."* 



EVENING. 
THEY HAVE BELIEVED. 

"They have kept thy word . . . and have known surely 
that I came out from thee, and they have believed 
that thou didst send me," — John, xvii. 6, 8. 

Is it possible that these words from the sub- 
lime prayer of our Saviour were spoken of 
those same timorous disciples, whose former 

* Isa. xlii. 3. 



60 THEY HAVE BELIEVED. 

unbelief lie had so frequently upbraided, and 
who all, immediately after, " forsook him and 
fled?" Is there not one word of reproach, 
not one reminiscence of their unfaithfulness, 
no allusion to their distrustful fears? Nay, 
Divine love has covered the whole multitude 
of their sins.* Their sins and their iniquities 
are remembered no more.f They are "cast 
into the depths of the sea.";}: " They are blot- 
ted out as a cloud, as a thick cloud,"§ from 
the blue, transparent firmament of his favor. 
Jesus presented his disciples in prayer, as he 
will hereafter in glory, "faultless before the 
presence of God."|| For in the gospel cove- 
nant Balaam's words are verified: "He hath 
not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he 
seen perverseness in Israel."*!" 

Oh, trembling believer, so shall it be with 
you. Your faith being a true faith, how- 
ever feeble or faltering, has placed you "in 
Christ." You are washed in his blood. And 

* Prov. x. 12. t Heb. x. 11. X Micah, vii. 19. $ Isa. xliv. g$, 
|| Jude, 24. Tf Numb, xxiii. 21 ; see also Jer. 1. 20. 



THEY HAVE BELIEVED. 61 

"his eyes," which are "as a flame of fire,"* 
detect no defilement on any blood-sprinkled 
soul. Hear how he challenges the universe : 
"Who shall lay anything to the charge of 
God's elect ?"f Hear how he promises : " They 
shall be mine in that day when I make up 
my jewels.":}: 
* Rev L 14. f Rom. viii. 33. % Mai. iii. 17. 



f Iiirtantl] iUnung. 

PETER'S FALL. 

* And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, "behold, Satan hatlj 
desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat : 
"but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." 
Luke, xxii. 31. 

The apostle Peter is a notable example how 
living faith may fall, and yet not utterly be 
cast down * He was bold, energetic, ardent, 
generous. When called, he immediately re- 
linquished all.f When assured that it was 
Jesus, he volunteered to walk the stormy 
waters.:}: When asked his judgment about 
his Master, he gave that noble, unreserved 
confession which " flesh and blood had not 
revealed" to him.§ Were it not for the fidel- 
ity of Scripture, we might have thought 
nothing could have shaken the constancy of 

* Psa. xxxvii. 24. f Matt. iv. 18, 20. 

X Matt. xiv. 28-ai. § Matt. xvi. 15-17. 



PETER'S FALL. 63 

his devotion. And yet how read we? He 
who alone of men ever " walked upon the 
water," took his eye off Jesus, saw the boister- 
ous waves, and began to sink. Immediately 
after his glorious confession, he was stumbled 
at the thought of his Master's crucifixion, and 
began to rebuke him.* Then came his last 
awful denial. He did not fall all at once. 
First he grew self-confident. He had now fol- 
lowed Jesus a considerable time. Awakened 
souls may be humble and watchful at first; 
but as they go on, the danger of self-confi- 
dence increases. Judas had just left them.f 
When hypocrites are unmasked, we are prone 
to be self-confident in our own trust-worthi- 
ness. Jesus' disciples only were with him 
when he boasted; — it is easy to profess un- 
flinching fidelity in the presence of Christians. 
Self-confidence led to slumber. He slept when 
Jesus was in an agony of prayer ; nor even 
awoke to watchfulness at the piercing question, 
" Simon, sleepest thou /"J We will not pur- 

* MattrxvL 22. f See Joiui > ™- so > 36-38. % Mark, adv. 37. 






64 PETER'S RECOVERY. 

sue his mournful fall. He fell lower and 
lower, till there was but one thing between 
between him and destruction ; and that was 
tho omnipotent prayer of Jesus: "I have 
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." That 
plank saved him. 0, trembling believer, 
though your faith in time past has faltered 
and fallen, even like Peter's, do not despair. 
You, too, have "an Advocate with the 
Father."* For you, too, has Jesus prayed, not 
that you should be taken out of the world, but 
kept from evil.f 



EVENING. 
PETER'S RECOVERY. 



" That the trial of your faith . . . though it "be tried 
•with fire, might he found unto praise and honour and 
glory at the appearing of Christ." — 1 Pet. i, 7. 

So writes this same apostle when he had 
struggled for nearly thirty more years against 
an evil heart within, and an evil world with- 

* 1 John, ii. 1. f John, xvii. 15. 



PETER'S RECOVERY. 65 

out. How was he recovered from his dreadful 
fell ? Step by ^tep. His Master's look made 
him remember.* Eemembrance brought, 
through grace, the bitter tears of godly sor- 
row. Dark indeed must have been the day 
when Jesus lay in the tomb ; but, on the re- 
surrection morning, hearken, contrite mourner, 
what an invitation is sent by the angel : M Go, 
tell his disciples and Peter. r 'f Why not, " and 
James or John P Jesus well knew whose 
fluttering heart most chiefly feared rebuke and 
repulse ; and he was sent to heal the broken- 
hearted. We can imagine how closely he 
questioned Mary Magdalene : " Are you sure 
that I was invited by name ?" And with what 
reviving joy he was assured the command was 
to tell " his disciples and Peter." After this 
he had a separate interview with our Lord4 

*Luke, xxii. 61. 

f Mark, xvi. f l. These -words, " and Peter," are only re- 
corded in Mark's Gospel, which was probably written under 
Peter's dictation. It is no wonder he treasured them" in 
grateful remembrance. 

% Luke, xxiv 34.; 1 Cor. xv. 5. 

6* 



66 PETER'S RECOVERY. 

The fact only is recorded ; but pardoned sin- 
ners can well conceive the meltings of his con- 
trite heart, and the forgiving tenderness of the 
Lord. Again is he singled out by the thrice- 
repeated question, "Lovest thou me?" He 
answers with grief, but no longer with the self- 
confidence of an untried believer, "Lord, thou 
knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love 
thee."* Love to Jesus ever after was the main- 
spring of his life. He who flinched from the 
prying question of a servant-maid, made the 
rulers, and elders, and scribes quail before the 
boldness of one who " had been with Jesus ;"f 
and, when beaten, rejoiced that he was counted 
worthy to suffer shame for his name. And 
thus, in his latest years, he feeds the flock of 
God from his own dear-bought experience, 
and encourages them in the furnace to be 
" faithful unto the coming of the Lord." 

* John, xxi. 15-17. f Acts > *▼• 5 > 1* 



THE KNOCKING SAVIOUR 

"Behold. I stand at the door and knock; if any man 
hear my voice, and open the door, I will come 
in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." 
• -Rev. iii. 20. 

Believer, is not the answer of your soul, 
" Come in, Lord ; come in "? Do you not 
choose Jesus for your guest before every 
other ? and, as often as unbelief draws a bolt 
or bar, do you not angrily chide the officious, 
disobedient menial, and unbolt and unbar with 
your own hand, and, "like a wife when she 
hears the foot-fall of her late-returning hus- 
band," throw wide the door and greet his com- 
ing with the joyous welcomings of love ? Oh, 
then, take comfort. He can distinguish be- 
tween the wretched, rebellious slave, and the 
willing, though hampered host. Only hear his 
voice and open the door — he will come in. It 



68 THE KNOCKING SAVIOUR. 

is not so with the children of this world. 
Pleasure comes to the door of their hearts,, or 
wealth or honor ; it is at once thrown open, 
and these worthless guests are entertained with 
the most servile attention. But Jesus knocks 
by his word, by his ministers, by mercy, by 
trial, and they close their ears, or indolently 
answer, " When I have a convenient season, I 
will call for thee."* But, though the Lord is 
very long-suffering, not willing that any should 
perish, " the knock will come which is the last 
knock ;" and this heavenly Guest, so long ex- 
cluded and repulsed, will reply, "They shall 
call upon me, but I will not answer."f Oh the 
distinguishing grace, believer, that has made 
thee to differ ! Though you never had another 
half-hour's intercourse with pleasure, or wealth, 
or fame, is not the language of your heart to 
your Saviour, 

" Abide with me from morn to eve, 
For without thee I cannot live ; 
Abide with me when night is nigh, 
For without thee I dare not die" ? 



* Acts, xxiv. 25. f I>rov * *• 28 



THE HIDDEN SAINT. 69 

EVENING. 

THE HIDDEN SAINT. 

"I flee unto thee to hide me." — Psa. cxliii. 9. 

We have considered the Saviour entering 
the believer's heart. Let us now reverse the 
picture, and consider the believer entering 
into his hiding-place, even his Saviour; for 
both are Scripture emblems. 

" Abide in me, and I in you,"* is the double 
invitation of love. " I flee unto thee to hide 
me," cries the persecuted psalmist. The world, 
like Adam and Eve in the garden, flees from 
God, thinking to find some hiding-place in 
riches, pleasure, fame — those leafy labyrinths 
of a ruined earth. God is their terror now, 
and will be, they tremblingly acknowledge, 
their righteous Judge. They would hasten 
anywhere to shut out thoughts of God. But, 
oh blessed triumph of the gospel of peace ! the 
believer flees to God in Christ ; a voice of ten- 

* John, sv. 4 



70 THE HIDDEN SAINT. 

derest compassion arrested him in his former 
flight — he turned, and met not an angry 
Avenger, but a forgiving Father. Henceforth 
in every trouble he exclaims, " Thou art my 
hiding-place ;"* and, once within that everlast- 
ing refuge, his faith rises as he surveys the 
impregnable bulwarks of his fortress, and he 
continues in a strain of victory, " Thou shalt 
preserve me from trouble ; thou shalt compass 
me about with songs of deliverance." 
* Psa. xxxii. 1. 



$ifUnt\ SUwitig. 

NO EVIL TIDINGS. 

"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings."" — Psa. cxii. 7. 

No evil tidings from God his Father, but 
messages of parental love ; no evil tidings 
from Jesus, for his voice is the voice of a 
friend ; no evil tidings from the blessed Spirit, 
for his whispers are those of peace and con- 
solation. No evil tidings from heaven, but 
report of a mansion preparing ; no evil tidings 
from hell, for no place is found there for the 
feeblest sheep of Christ; no evil tidings of 
ministering angels overthrown, for they are 
prevalent in their ministry of love ; no evil 
tidings of hostile spirits overcoming, for we 
wrestle, with victory written against our names, 
" more than conquerors."* The thunder-cloud 
of sorrow bears solemn, but no evil tidings ; it 
is the voice of our Father and our God. Be- 
* Rom. viii. 37. 



72 THERE IS AN END. 

reavement brings mournful, but no evil tidings; 
a beloved fellow-traveller is parted from us, 
but another guest lias sat down at the heaven- 
ly banquet, and we shall soon be beside him. 
The last trumpet peals no evil tidings, but the 
bride rejoices at the cry, " Behold, the bride- 
groom cometh,"* and answers from the fulness 
of a glowing heart, " Even so, come -Lord 
Jesus." Blessed, blessed believer ! all things 
are his, whether that eminent brother, or this 
Christian sister, or the world, or life, or death, 
or things present, or things to come, all are 
his, and he is Christ's, and Christ is God's.f 



EVENING. 
THESE IS AN END. 



"Let not thine heart envy sinners : hut he thou in the 
fear of the Lord all the day long For surely there 
is an end : and thine expectation shall not he cut 
off"— Prov. xxiii. 17, 18. 

SURELY there is an end ; to sinners, of their 
false peace and joy and mirth, of unrestrained 
* Matt. xxv. 6. f 1 Cor. iii. 21-23. 



THERE IS AN END. 73 

sin, of unchastised pride, when they begin to 
reap the eternal harvest, which they sowed, of 
carnal corruption. Surely there is an end to 
the chastened mourners who walked in the 
fear of God, an end of sin and sorrow, of 
Satan's snares, an end of conflict, distress, and 
fear, and cloud ; of fighting and race-running, 
and voyaging and going on pilgrimage ; for 
they have won the battle, and the race, and 
the port, and the home. But not merely an 
end, an end and an expectation to them. For 
as the Lord says by Jeremiah, "I know the 
thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of 
peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected 
end."* (Hebrew, " an end and expectation.") 
What an exposition of the heart of God is this ! 
of his meditations of love to us now, of his 
purposes of grace forever, when in his presence 
every hope, expectation, longing, craving of 
the soul, shall be fulfilled, with communion 
with himself, with the image of Jesus per 
fected, with the fellowship of the Holy Ghost. 

* Jer. xxix. 11. 

n 



MUCH UNBELIEF, MORE FAITH. 

''The father of the child cried out, and said with tears, 
Lord, I "believe : help thou mine unbelief." — MaTk, 
ix. 24. 

Ah! this, you say, is just my case. Faith 
wrestles with unbelief in my heart. There is 
a perpetual struggle, a forceful leaning upon 
Jesus, an obstinate clinging to him ; but few 
sparkles of "joy in believing;" " fightings 
without, fears within ;"* yet I would rathei 
die than give up. My whole hopes for pardos 
lie in Jesus' blood, for acceptance in his right 
eousness. I do, and would utterly renounce 
every other confidence. Living or dying, I 
cast my soul on "the. Lamb of God, which 
taketh away the sin of the world :"f and by 
his grace would, at this moment, willingly lay 

* 2 Cor. vii. 5. f John, L 29. 



MUCH UNBELIEF, MORE FAIFH. 75 

# 

down my life to witness that this truth would 
bear me safely through death's cold waters to 
the shore of glory beyond. This being so, what 
is the unbelief that so perplexes and distracts 
me ? — A perpetual whisper (whether from Satan 
without, or my own vile heart within, I know 
not), " What if these things are not so?" 
Thank God, I seek to stifle it ever as it 
arises by a strong exertion of the will, praying 
for pardon that the thought should have for a 
moment lurked within, and casting myself on 
Jesus, resolvedly and determinately. This 
struggle has been for years, and is unutterably 
painful : for though, at times, I have flashes of 
entire confidence, of which words cannot tell 
the momentary peace and comfort ; soon again 
unbelief baffles, entangles, and drags me into 
warfare. Lord, search me and try me : bring 
any hidden evil to light that hinders " the 
victory" of faith.* 

Is this your case, is this your prayer, my 
brother in tribulation ? Oh 1 do not despair 

* John, v. 4. 



76 TWO CHILDREN IN DIVERSE HOMES. 



« 



There was real unbelief as well as true faith in 
the father of the child; but faith was the 
stronger, for it prayed for help against unbe- 
lief. Jesus did not reject the struggling prayer. 
The child was cured.* Hold the beginning of 
your confidence steadfast unto the end.f Light 
shall break in as you go on. " Who is among 
you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the 
voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, 
and hath no light? Let him trust in the 
name of the Lord, and stay himself upon his 
God.J Yes, his God : he who hath no light 
can cry in the darkness, " God, my God."§ 



EVENING. 

TWO CHILDREN IN DIVERSE HOMES. 

•' Ye are they which have continued with me in my 
temptations." — Luke, sxii. 28. 

There were two children, who were placed 
in different homes, at a distance from the 

* Mark, ix. 21. f Heb. iii. 1 4. X Isa - L 10 - § Psa - xliii - 4 - 



TWO CHILDREN IN DIVERSE HOMES. 77 

father whom they loved. One child was with 
a family, every member of which esteemed his 
father ; his name was never mentioned but 
with love and veneration ; his character was 
upheld as a very model of excellence ; and the 
child's admiration for his father grew with his 
years, and strengthened with his ripening un- 
derstanding. Far different was the case with 
his brother. The family he was placed with, 
seemed bent on weaning his affection from his 
father, and undermining the confidence he re- 
posed in him. They seldom indeed ventured 
upon open accusation, but were ever insinuating 
doubts as to his father's uprightness, discre- 
tion, or love. The child was deeply hurt at 
these suspicions ; he stifled them continually ; 
but they awoke thoughts of which he could 
not always lose at once the painful impression. 
Often did he say to himself, — M Let them talk 
as they will, I know that my father is good, 
and wise, and tender ; I know that he loves 
me ; how often have I proved it : I am foolish 

to be so distressed ; ere long I shall see him 

7# 



78 TWO CHILDREN IN DIVERSE HOMES. 

face to face, and hear from his own lips an 
explanation of many things which I cannot 
now unravel : till then, suspect and suggest as 
they may, I will believe in his excellence and 
love." In due time the father sent for both 
his children to his own home ; but think you 
he welcomed that child with less affection 
and approval, who would love on and trust 
him through base insinuation and suspicion ? 

See here a picture of two believers. Few 
doubts ever assail the happy faith of one. The 
other passes through deep spiritual conflict : a 
malignant devil, an unbelieving world, and a 
corrupt heart, are ever whispering hateful sus- 
picions of his God. " Though perplexed, he 
will not despair ;"* though silenced and con- 
fused, he continues to follow ; though beaten 
by the waves, he clings to the rock. Though* 
his Master is slandered and traduced, he keeps 
in his service. He continues with him in his 
temptations ; and in the day of Grod he too shall 
hear, " Well done, good and faithful servant."f 

* 2 Oor. iy. 8. f Matt - **▼. 21. 



£tto*ni**ttt|[ Hunting, 

THE FORGIVEN MAN. 

u Be of good cheer ; thy sins he forgiven thee " 
— Matt ix. 2. 

Strange and solemn must these words have 
seemed to the sick of the palsy. He had been 
brought with his diseased and trembling limbs 
to Jesus ; his heart beat high with fluttering 
hope ; that hope rose almost to certainty, when 
these gracious words began to fall from the 
lips of the Lord, a Son, be of good cheer." 
Now, he thought, this Good Physician will 
speak the words of power, " Be whole of thy 
disease." But the Saviour's greeting ^vas dif- 
ferent. "Be of good cheer; thy sins be for- 
given thee." This turned his thoughts from 
the painful malady of his body to the far deeper 
plague within. It transported him at once 
from things seen and temporal, to things un- 



80 THE FOKGIVEN MAN. 

seen and of eternal moment. We read not 
that lie spoke ; silently lie pondered that brief 
but unspeakably blessed command. Oh, be- 
lieve me, there was the strictest reasoning in 
the charge to rejoice, and the cause assigned. 
What would it have availed him, though his 
palsied strength had been renewed like that of 
youth, though his decrepit flesh had come 
again, like unto the flesh of a little child, and 
though he should live to a green old age with- 
out weakness or pain, — if notwithstanding his 
sins were unforgiven, and his soul unsaved ? 
Would his mortal health and strength be mat- 
ter of rejoicing at the judgment ? Which then 
would sound the sweetest, " I healed thy palsy," 
or " I forgave thy sins ?" 

Believing mourner, trust in the infinite wis- 
dom of thy Saviour, when he says to thee, 
" Be of good cheer ; thy sins be forgiven thee." 
The miracles thus far at least applies to you. 
Let not thy unwilling heart reply, " Of good 
cheer ! This is very well for others ; — but my 
body is weak and suffering, my heart is dark 



THE PERFECT WORK. 81 

and tempest-tost, my livelihood uncertain, my 
beloved ones, some gathered home, some far 
distant on earth — tell others to be cheery, let 
me weep." Nay, brother, thy sins are for- 
given ; this, with every spiritual joy, includes 
a body of immortality, a heart of light and 
love for evermore, the abundance of thy Fa- 
ther's mansions, the eternal restoration of all 
who sleep in Jesus. " Be of good cheer." 



EVENING. 

THE PERFECT WORK. 

" His "work is perfect." — Deut. xxxii. 4. 

Yes, you reply, I have indeed matter for 
rejoicing ; but life, which has to others an on- 
ward, busy, changing character, is to me con- 
tinuous and monotonous. I seem almost like 
the poor man at the pool of Bethesda,* who, 
while others come and go, never gets any for- 
* John, v. 1. 



82 THE PERFECT WORK. 

warder. Nay, consider, life cannot be con- 
tinuous, "Here have we no continuing city :"* 
it is swiftly, incredibly swiftly passing on ; and 
either by suffering or working is preparing us 
for our eternal borne. God's "work is per- 
fect :" perfect in tbe love from which it origin- 
ates, perfect in its means for the end, perfect in 
its final issue. And this work is being accom- 
plished in you ; and quickly moreover, like a 
skilful operation in surgery, with the utmost 
rapidity consistent with the safety of the pa- 
tient. Yes, " The time is short," " The Lord 
is at hand :" a truth which throws its reflex 
light on both the preceding commands, "Ke- 
joice in the Lord alway ; — let your moderation 
be known unto all men."f His speedy advent 
will crown with glory both work and patience 
in his service. 

* Heb. xiii. 14. f Phil. iv. 4, 6. 



THE GOSPEL KEPORT. 

<l Our report." — Isaiah, liii. 1. 

Though you cannot join " tlie multitude 
who keep holy day," or "hear the joyful 
sound" in the courts of the Lord's house, your 
chamber of sickness, Christ's mourner, shuts 
not out the music of "our report." Muse 
upon it, as uttered in this prophetic chapter, 
by Isaiah, more than two thousand five hun- 
dred years ago ; words of sweeter meaning, of 
more penetrating love, had never fallen on our 
weary world. It was the fuller confirmation 
of the first promise, " The Seed of the woman 
shall bruise the serpent's head ;"* it was the 
sealing of Job's victorious cry, " I know that 
my Eedeemer liveth, and that he shall stand 

* Gen. iii. 15. 



84 THE GOSPEL KEPOKT. 

at the laster day -upon the earth f* it was the 
brightest reflection yet given of the still dis- 
tant morning of the nativity ; it was the pro- 
phetic fulfilment of ten thousand thousand 
sacrifices since the firstlings of Abel's flock. 
Thrice blessed report, containing all that earth 
could crave, or heaven bestow ! Man was a 
sinner, lost, undone, miserable, far off from 
God, at war with himself, groaning in the 
gloom of the shadow of death, and sad antici- 
pations of worse things to come. Here was 
One who would sympathize as " a Man of sor- 
rows" with his griefs, grow up as a man 
among men, carrying his sorrows — who would 
be wounded for his transgressions, bruised for 
his iniquities ; by whose chastisement be should 
obtain peace, by whose stripes healing ; who 
would be brought as a lamb to the slaughter, 
whose soul would be made an offering for sin. 

* Job, xix. 25. 



THE GOSPEL REPORT. 85 

EVENING. 
THE GOSPEL REPORT. 

" Our report," — Isaiah, liii. 1. 

Why so much about sin ? Ah, this was the 
essence of the sweetness of this report. It did 
not hide the cankering evil : it did not gloss 
over man's real necessities ; it did not explain 
away the monstrous miseries of sin. No ; it 
confessed them all ; it laid them all bare ; it 
exposed them in the sight of Grod and man ; 
but then it provided a remedy — a fall, perfect, 
radical cure. It held up the shattered, filthy 
heart of man, every power and affection de- 
filed ; but then it plunged that heart in the 
cleansing, healing blood of Christ. It de- 
clared : " All we like sheep have gone astray ; 
we have turned every one to his own way."* 
Sad, melancholy truth ! from which, when 
Isaiah wrote, had already flowed three thou- 
sand years and more of sin and shame. But 

* Isa. liii 6. 
8 



86 THE GOSPEL REPORT. 

could you not detract something from the 
sweeping assertion? could you not suggest 
that there might have been some exceptions, 
and say that there were at least noble strag- 
glings against the universal corruption ? No, 
not for the wealth of the starry firmament, take 
one syllable from that declaration, " All we 
like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned 
every one to his own way." Sad, yet certain 
truth ! But, hark ! the prophet continues : 
"And" — What follows? Death, judgment, 
condemnation, eternity of punishment ? Nay 
— " And the Lord hath laid on Him the in- 
iquity of us all." If it had been immediate 
death for sin, condemnation upon conviction, 
and no prospect but eternal woe, we must 
have confessed it just ; but instead of judg- 
ment, wrath, hell, this blessed report speaks of 
nothing but atonement, pardon, peace, good- 
will, glory. Oh, suffering believer, rest on 
these glad tidings ; are they not bright sun- 
beams in your " cloudy day "? 



$[iiutmttlr fUnung, 

THE ARM OF THE LORD. 

" To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?" 

— Isa. liii. 1. 

There is strong consolation for the weak 
and weary pilgrim in this name of his Ke- 
deemer — " the arm of the Lord I" The report 
of this chapter speaks so much of the humilia- 
tion of the Saviour, as a man of sorrows, that 
there is something peculiarly precious in this 
Divine title. Were you asked to rely upon a 
human arm, you well might shrink, for, 
11 Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and 
maketh flesh his arm."* But the arm of the 
Lord, it is the very emblem of the strength of 
omnipotence. David says : " Thou hast a 
mighty arm ; strong is thy hand, and high is 
thy right hand ;"+ and again : " His holy arm 

* Jer. xvii. 5. f P sa * koorix. 13. 



88 THE ARM OF THE LORD. 

hath gotten him the victory."* Isaiah delights 
in the title : " Be thou their arm every morn- 
ing ;"f and " on mine arm shall they trust ;";£ 
and shortly after, " Awake, awake, put on 
strength, O arm of the Lord. . . Art thou 
not it that hath made the depths of the sea a 
way for the ransomed to pass over ?"§ And 
when he " wondered that there was no inter- 
cessor, therefore his arm brought salvation 
unto him,"|| Ah, lean upon an arm that is 
all-powerful for the destruction of your foes, 
and for your own salvation. Will these papers 
fall into the hand of a young believer ? Think 
not this arm is too mighty and too high for 
you, for the same prophet declares, " He shall 
feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather 
the lambs with his arm."T Only, remember 
this arm must be "revealed ;" it is not man's 
discovery or invention, but it is God's revela- 
tion to man, given to all who ask in faith. 
Ask, then, and receive the blessing of Jeshurun. 

'* Psa. xcviii. 1. f Isa. xxxiii. 2. % Isa. li. 5. 

§ Isa. li, 9, 10. | Isa, lix. 16. f Isa. xl. 11, 



THE LEANING PILGKIM. 89 

" There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, 
who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and 
in his excellency on the sky. The eternal 
God is thy refuge, and underneath are the 
everlasting arms."* 



EVENING. 

THE LEANING PILGRIM, 

"Who is this that cometh up from the -wilderness, lean- 
ing on her Beloved ?" — SoNg viii. 5. 

The pilgrim's pathway Zionward is diversi- 
fied and various. There are, indeed, the wells 
and palm trees of Elim.f There are also steep 
mountains, and precipitous ravines, and deep 
waters, and the waste-howling wilderness. But 
in climbing the rugged hills of difficulty, in 
walking uprightly down slippery descents, in 
wading through dangerous rivers, in advancing 
cheerily over barren sands, what, I pray you, 

* Deut. xxxiii. 26. 21. f Exod. xv. 21. 

8* 



90 THE LEANING PILGRIM. 

is so grateful to the weary traveller, as the arm 
of an affectionate, wise, and able supporter? 
Again, consider, those who lean upon the arm 
or hang upon the hand of their friend, can 
pour their secret sorrows into his ear, and re- 
ceive the whispers of consolation from his lips. 
Believer, Jesus speaks to thee : " Fear thou 
not ; for I am with thee : be not dismayed ; for 
I am thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yea, I 
will uphold thee with the right hand of my 
righteousness."* What, then, can you fear? 
Who* can be against you? None can pluck 
you from his hand.f Do you dread the dan- 
gers by the way ? He loves " unto the end,"^: 
and will never leave you. Do you shrink from 
passing at last the cold waters of Jordan ? Be 
of good cheer ; you have believed our report, 
and to you the arm of the Lord has been re- 

* Isa. xli. 10. 

f John, x. 28, 29. The scope of the Greek seems rather 
narrowed by the insertion of the word " man " in the trans 
lation. It is ovx apndoei Tig . . . ovdelg dvvarat apnd&tv. 
No one, man or devil. See Rom. viii. 38, 39. 

\ John, xiii. 1. 



THE LEANING PILGRIM. 91 

vealed. Those gospel tidings to which you 
gave credence in a world of unbelief, shall then 
sound more sweetly than the harpings of the 
blessed, in accents such as these : " When thou 
passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; 
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow 
thee."* The arm which was revealed to your 
faith on earth, shall then be felt to be the arm 
of the Lord, and bear you safely through to 
the blissful land of promise. 

" Shudder not to pass the stream ; 
Venture all your care on Him ; 
Him whose dying love and power 
Still'd its tossing, hush'd its roar : 
Safe as the expanded wave ; 
Gentle as the summer's eve ; 
Not one object of His care 
Ever suffered shipwreck there." 



* Isa. xliii. 2. 



THE CHEEEFUL SIDE OF THINGS. 

" Forget not all his "benefits." — Psa. ciii. 2. 

"Keep on the sunny side of the rock," said 
an aged to a young believer. We may be 
safely sheltered beneath the rock, and yet lose 
much comfort from not selecting its sunniest 
nooks. It will much help us to this, to " count 
up our mercies " rather than our trials, and to 
meditate more frequently on the innumerable 
blessings wherewith we are encompassed, than 
on the few pleasures from which we are de- 
barred. They say, "to look on the cheerful 
side of things is worth ten thousand a-year." 
I am sure it is so in spiritual things. Though 
to tell the Christian to count up his mercies, is 
to request him to number the countless dew- 
drops of the morning. To bid him look upon 



THE CHEERFUL SIDE OF THINGS. 93 

the cheerful side of things, is to place him on 
a mountain, whose summit is lost in light, and 
to ask him to scan a prospect whose horizon 
is eternity. Nevertheless, in this holy habit, 
which they only can adopt, who " being justi- 
fied by faith have peace with God through our 
Lord Jesus Christ, 7 ' lies the secret of rejoicing " 
in hope, and " glorying in tribulation."* Let 
us, then, though in brief, remember the princi- 
pal benefits which the most afflicted child of 
God enjoys now, or in prospect ; for be sure, 
that was a holy and joyful resolution, " I will 
mention the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and 
the praises of the Lord, according to all that 
the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great 
goodness toward the house of Israel, which he 
hath bestowed on them according to his mer- 
cies, and according to the multitude of his lov- 
ing kindnesses."t 

* Rom. v. 1, 3. t Isa. briii 1. 



94 LOOK BACKWARD AND SING. 

EVENING. 
LOOK BACKWARD AND SING. 

" The Lord hath done great things for us." 

— Psa. cxxvi. 3. 

Look backward; question the past of its 
mercies, remember the miracles of grace, 
whereof you have already partaken. 1. There 
has been creating love. The perfect joy of 
the Godhead was complete in the perfections 
of the Triune Jehovah ; but from " the exu- 
berance of his love " he created you and others 
to share his eternal felicity. 2. There is re- 
deeming love : such an infinite mystery of 
mercy that angels cannot fathom it. The bar- 
rier of sin was broken down. The way of 
access through the blood of Jesus by the com- 
munion of the Spirit was opened unto the 
Father. 3. There has been towards you elect- 
ing and saving love. I speak to an afflicted 
child of God. Of the few that find the narrow 
way, you are one. There are many of higher 



LOOK BACKWARD AND SING. 95 

rank and nobler capacities walking the broad 
road. 

" Pause, my soul, adore aud wonder ! 
Ask, ' Oh, why such love to me V 
Grace hath put me iu the number 
Of the Saviour's family : 
Hallelujah ! thanks, eternal thanks to thee !" 

The blessed Spirit, perhaps, long strove with 
you in vain ; you turned a deaf ear to every 
invitation ; but he was not wearied. At length 
he was victorious. Oh, blessed victory ! You 
were brought as a sinner to the foot of the 
cross, pardoned, justified, and made " a new 
creature"* in Christ Jesus. "What mighty is- 
sues hung on that triumph of grace! The 
world indeed frowned and was angry, and 
pointed the finger of scorn at the new-born 
saint ; hell groaned through its lowest founda- 
tions, as it was gloomily whispered there, a We 
have lost another soul." But good men gave 
thanks to God; and the angels rejoiced, f with 
songs of gratulation on this new accession of 

* 2 Cor. v. 11. Kriaiq. f Luke, xv. 10. 



96 LOOK BACKWAED AND SLNTG. 

glory ; yea, Jesus himself saw of " tlie travai] 
of his soul, and was satisfied."* 

These are some of the great things which 
God " hath done" for you. Do not all our 
hearts make the joyous response, "Whereof 
we are glad ?" 

* Isa. liii. 11. 



®totttts-|mt laming, 

LOOK AROUND YOU AND SING. 

"His compassions fail not: they are new every morn- 
ing."— Lam. iii. 22, 23. 

Think not that your mercies lie, wholly, 
either in the past or the future. Look around 
you. Even to the suffering saint the present 
is fragrant with, love, and he can sing in the 
house of his pilgrimage : — 

" The hill of Zion yields 

A thousand sacred sweets, 
Before we reach the heavenly fields, 
Or walk the golden streets." 

In respect of earthly things, have you not, 
day by day, food and raiment? This was 
St. Paul's standard of sufficiency and content.* 
1 i What," said the poor aged saint with her 
crust of bread, " what all this, and Christ be- 

* 1 Tim. vi. 8. 
9 



98 LOOK AROUND YOU AND SING. 

sides ?" And when set once upon the task, 
the ingenuity of a grateful heart finds manifold 
love-tokens, besides a bare subsistence ; the 
alleviations of medical skill in suffering, the 
affectionate attendance of friends who are near, 
the prayerful remembrance of those far away, 
the welcome ministrations of fellow-Christians, 
who remember the words " sick, and ye visited 
me." These things, the gifts of Jesus, and 
Jesus himself beside ! For the gospel treas- 
ures you possess are not only the title-deeds 
of a future inheritance, but precious and present 
realities. You daily feed on Christ by faith ; 
you live upon his dying love ; you now lean 
upon him and find rest ; you look to him and 
are comforted. Thus it was that the prophet 
Jeremiah in this piteous lamentation, broke 
out into praise ; " His compassions fail not : 
they are new every morning."* These fresh 
unfailing mercies are yours. It was after the 
patriarch Jacob had seen in vision the close 
connection betwixt heaven and earth that he 

* Lam. iii. 22, 23. 



LOOK FORWARD AND SING. 99 

prayed that vow of singular sobriety and faith, 
" If God will be with me, and will keep me in 
this way that I go, and will give me bread to 
eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come 
again to my father's house in peace ; then shall 
the Lord be my God."* The Christian needs 
no more, if only he have God for his Friend, 
a sufficiency for his wants, and a safe arrival 
at his Father's house in peace. 



EVENING. 

LOOK FORWARD AND SING. 

" Thou shalt see greater things than these." — John, i. 60. 

We dare not forget the present loving-kind- 
nesses of our journey, but neither can we con- 
sent to shut out the bright light that beams 
upon us from our future home. " Our light 
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh 
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight 

* Gen. xxviii. 20, 21. 



100 LOOK FOKWARD AND SING. 

of glory ; while we look not at tlie things 
which are seen, but at the things which are 
not seen."* On this passage an eminent be- 
liever remarked: " You must keep the hook 
in the eye, here ; the affliction will only ap- 
pear light and momentary, while, while, while 
yon look at the not seen eternal things." Look 
forward then. This is an attainment requiring 
daily practice, and prayerful skill. For if we 
build up wild and unwarranted imaginations, 
they will vanish under the sober realities of 
suffering and distress ; yet, on the other hand, 
to have a mere confused impression of glory, 
fails to supply those divine prospects of bless- 
edness in which a scriptural faith delights. 
The notices of heavenly joy in Holy Writ are 
indeed scattered, and many of them veiled in 
emblems ; yet, if we reverently gather these 
notices together, and mark the mutual relation 
they bear, and illustrate them with the cor- 
responding mercies of time, we shall find we 
have a goodly array of heavenly data where- 

* 2 Cur. iv. 17, 18. 



LOOK FORWARD AND SING. 101 

with to realize the glories of eternity. Suffice 
it for the present to say, that every cloud of 
grief, however brief the shadow it casts, will 
be wanting in the clear firmament of heaven ; 
and that every ray of genuine happiness, which 
has cheered our pathway home, will be found 
without intermission in that meridian sunshine 
of everlasting light. 



®fotttt2-j&«fftt& Pawing* 

JEWELS. 

"My jewels." — Max. ill. 17. 

Theee is much, in the nature and history 
of jewels, that strikingly illustrates the char- 
acter of the Lord's people. (1.) There is an 
intrinsic difference between jewels and other 
common stones. Carve and polish a flint as 
you will, you can never make it a jewel. So 
is it with, the Christian : he has a new heavenly 
birth, a new life, one with Christ and Christ 
with him, created anew by the Holy Spirit in 
the image of God. It is no partial reforma- 
tion, hewing off here and there a glaring sin, 
but a thorough vital change.* (2.) Jewels are 
won with cost, and toil, and peril, from dark 
and lonesome mines, or as pearls from the bed 
* See Ezek. xxxvi. 26. 



JEWELS. 103 

of the ocean. " Ah," the Christian will ex- 
claim, " here is a picture of my case. Words 
cannot tell the blackness of my own heart be - 
fore the grace of God ; and the ungodly were 
my chosen companions. Jesus came from 
heaven to this world of sin and sorrow, and 
rescued me with infinite labor and cost ; but 
oftentimes with deepest humiliation ' do I look 
unto the rock whence I was hewn, and to the 
hole of the pit whence I was digged.' "* 
(3.) Jewels, after they have been found and 
won, are mostly carried many hundred miles 
over stormy seas and burning sands. Very 
few Christians are. transplanted to heaven at 
once ; most have to tread a long pilgrimage, 
and traverse "the waves of this troublesome 
world." (4.) Jewels, moreover, have to un- 
dergo many processes before they are fit for 
setting in gold ; they are carved, and ground, 
and polished, enduring many a hard blow, 
many a delicate operation. See in this the 
preparing of the Lord's people for glory, their 
. * Isa. li. 1. 



104 JEWELS. 

being " made meet to be partakers of the in- 
heritance of the saints in light."* (5.) Jewels 
are only bought with a great price. I need 
not remind yon "ye were redeemed not with 
corruptible things, but with the precious blood 
of Christ."f Oh, if earthly treasures had 
availed, the Lord could have created ten thou- 
sand worlds of gold, and myriad angels would 
have brought the riches of the universe. But 
" it cost more to redeem one soul, so that man 
must let this alone for ever."$ 

Yet the weakest believer may swell the 
joyous acclamation, "I know that my Ee- 
deemer liveth."§ 



EVENING. 

JEWELS. 

11 My jewels." — Mal. iii. 17. 



We have not exhausted this simile yet. 
For, (6.) jewels are prized with peculiar care, 

* Col. i. 12. f 1 Pet.i. 18, 19. 

% See Psa. xlix. 8 (Prayer Book version). § Job, xix. 25. 



JEWELS. 105 

and guarded with especial vigilance. I once 
"had a diamond necklace, worth many thousand 
pounds, placed in my hands ; but the cabinet 
from whence it was taken was locked and 
double locked. There are two ways of pre- 
serving treasures from enemies : they may be 
hidden, and the search eluded ; or they may 
be guarded, and the attack defied. Both 
images are used of Christians. M Your life is 
hid with Christ in God."* " My Father, which 
gave them me, is greater than all ; and no one 
is able to pluck them out of my Father's 
hand."f Nay, such is the exquisite sensi- 
tiveness to their slightest danger, " He that 
toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.":J: 
(7.) Jewels are durable — they do not decay 
with time. Counterfeit jewels may look well 
for a season, but they will not wear ; for the 
false setting gets tarnished, and the cheat is 
exposed. Christians, like their crown, will be 
forever " incorruptible, undefiled,"§ and ama- 
ranthine. (8.) Jewels reflect the light, and shine 

• CoL iii. 3. f Jolm > x - 29 - X Ze °k » 8 - § l Pet - *■ 4 



106 JEWELS. 

brightest in the clearest sunshine : whereas a 
full blaze will often detect counterfeit stones. 
Believers only shine as Jesus shines on them ; 
and never will shine so brightly as in that city 
which has " no need of the sun, neither of the 
moon ; for the glory of God doth lighten it, 
and the Lamb is the light thereof."* 

* Rev. xxi. 23. 



THE JEWELS COUNTED. 

"In that day -when I make up my jewels." — Mal. rii. 17 

Yes, my brother or sister in Christ Jesus, 
only "make your calling and election sure,"* 
and see that you are among the Lord's jewels, 
and you may well endure the processes of 
preparation ; for the day is at hand, when the 
Lord will make up his jewels. There is no 
interminable delay before you; but a day 
appointed of the Father. There shall not be 
one believer left out or behind ; your fellow- 
servants and your brethren must be fulfilled :f 
the Lord makes up his jewels. There shall not 
be one unbeliever admitted — he only makes 
up jewels. It is a precious thought to us who 
have lost friends in Jesus, that they are not 

* 2 Pet i. 10. f Rev.vLll. 



108 THE JEWELS COUNTED. 

perished,* but only set a little time before us, 
"as the stones of a crown "f in the treasure- 
house of the Eedeemer. But oh blessed day, 
when the whole company of the redeemed 
" shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the 
Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy 
God.";]: The jewels of that coronet are of 
various characters, as diverse in form, and 
colour, and brilliancy, as the diamond, the 
ruby, the amethyst, the emerald, and the 
pearl. They were collected in different cen- 
turies, and distant countries, but are now com- 
pleted, and brought together ; and each, like 
gems, mutually reflecting the rays of light, 
enhances the beauty and the brightness of the 
other. Oh, how rapturous shall the shout be 
at Emmanuel's coronation, when the voice is 
heard "of a great multitude, as the voice of 
many waters, and as the voice of mighty thun- 
derings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God 
omnipotent reigneth !"§ 

* 1 Cor. xv. 18. f Zeck ix. 16. 

\ Isa. lxiL 3. § Rev. xix. 6. 



THE JEWELS CLAIMED. 109 

k Oh that with yonder sacred throng 

We at his feet may fall ; 
Join in the everlasting song, 
And crown him Lord of all." 



EVENING. 

THE JEWELS CLAIMED. 

1 1 hey shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that 
day when I make up my jewels." — Mal. iii. 17. 

But, does any suspicion still linger on our 
minds, whether such dark hearts as ours can 
ever be exalted to such a height of glory? 
Here we have the promise of the King himself 
to acknowledge them in that day for his. As 
Matthew Henry says, " Christians were in 
doubt some time, whether they were belong- 
ing to God or no ; but the matter shall then 
be put out of doubt : God himself will say to 
them, 'You are mine.'" Oh, how delightful 
will that confession of the Son of man be 
before the angels of God — " Thou art mine."* 

* Luke, xii. 8. 
10 



110 THE JEWELS CLAIMED. 

If we are suddenly brought into company 
of far higher rank than we have been used 
to move in, how at once does it place us at 
our ease, if the master of the house take us by 
the hand and introduce us as his friend? 
And the Lord of hosts will say of his jewels 
in that day, " They are mine. Mine, bought 
with the blood of Jesus; mine,— the world, 
and sin, and Satan have no longer any share 
in the believer's thoughts ; mine, being filled 
with all the fulness of God ; my crown of 
glory, my royal diadem." 

With the assurance of a place in such a 
crown, and of being confessed in such an 
assembly, can we not, fellow-Christians, say 
with the psalmist, come what will or what 
may, " Light is sown for the righteous, and 
gladness for the upright in heart ?"* 

* Psa. xcvii. 11. 



Ito*ittg-$MrtIj Iprnittfl. 

THE WHEAT. 

" He will gather his wheat into the garner." 

— Matt. iii. 12. 

See, blessed believer, here is the close of all 
thy conflicts, the termination of all thy griefs. 
Then shall every tear be dried, every sorrow 
soothed, every apprehension hushed upon the 
bosom of thy Saviour. Be it that your faith 
is feeble ; your love most unworthy of him, its 
glorious object ; your hope often clouded and 
dim ; yet inasmuch as you are among his 
wheat, you will be gathered into his garner. 
The fan is in his hand — his hand, which made 
the world and all things therein — his hand, 
which upholds, day by day, the vast machinery 
of creation ; but more than this, his hand, my 
brother, which was nailed upon the cross for 
you and for me, and which, all our life long, 



112 THE WHEAF. 

was extended, imploring us to come, or shel- 
tering us when we had come. Think you he 
will make any mistake ? What, cast away as 
chaff one poor sinner who has clung to that 
hand for mercy, and sought to follow its guid- 
ing ? Never ! What, retain as wheat one 
unconverted soul among his chosen ones? 
Impossible ! The fan is in his hand, and he 
will gather his wheat into the garner. Ob- 
serve, moreover, it is his wheat. In the next 
clause it is the chaff ; but it is his wheat, as if 
to remind us, " Whosoever shall confess me 
before men, him will I confess also before my 
Father which is in heaven."* It is his wheat, 
bought with his own precious blood, the fruit 
of the travail of his soul, the gift of his 
heavenly Father, and stamped with the im- 
press of his Spirit. Think you one grain of 
that precious wheat shall perish? Never! 
they are his. Woe be to him who would de- 
prive the Redeemer of his own. No one can 
pluck them out of his hand. 

* Matt. x. 32. 



THE WHEAT GATHERED. 113 

EVENING. 

THE WHEAT GATHEBED, 

* He will gather his wheat into the garner." 

— Matt. iii. 12. 

Yes, he will gather them, or yet more 
strongly in the original (<™*a£^), bring to- 
gether, lead together. Blessed assurance ! 
Now the children of God are " scattered 
abroad ;" they are often separated ; now "the 
whole family " is part in heaven and part on 
earth.* Some few, as Enoch and Elijah, have 
obtained their celestial bodies ; many more are 
awaiting the resurrection morning, in the 
separate state of departed spirits ; many others 
are fighting their way Zionward in the church 
militant here on earth. The precious grain, 
though all safe in the strong right hand of the 
great Husbandman, is far asunder, scattered, 
and hidden ; but then he will gather his wheat 
into the garner. All shall be brought together 
forever. " There shall be one fold and one 

* Eph. iii. 15. 
10* 



114 THE WHEAT GATHERED. 

Shepherd." There will be no difference of 
opinion, no diversities of worship then, but we 
shall " with one mind and one mouth glorify 
God,"* and sing, on harps of gold, one song of 
eternal hallelujah, " Worthy is the Lamb that 
was slain." They are gathered into the garner. 
This implies security and permanence. While 
the wheat is growing in the field it is exposed 
to the chilling blight or the scattering storm, 
the assault of the insect, or the hand of the 
passer-by. But when once in the garner it is 
safely housed, it is stored for the Master's use. 
And when once your Saviour has placed you, 
harassed brother, in those mansions of his 
Father's house, you need fear no struggle, no 
temptation, no traitorous heart within, no onset 
of the enemy from without. " So shall we 
ever be with the Lord."f 

* Rom. xv. 6. t 1 Thess. iv. 11. 



f fo*ttt£-|ifilj Anting- 

THE BELIEVER'S INTERCOURSE. 

'Nevertheless I am continually with, thee: thou hast 
holden me "by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me 
■with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to 
glory.' 5 — Psa. lxxiii. 23, 24. 

Theke is a most intimate connection be 
tween these two verses. There is some danger 
of Christians desiring to enjoy all the comfort 
of the latter verse, without yielding themselves 
to the instruction of the former. It is those 
who are continually with their God, those 
whom he holds by their right hand, who will 
have the blessed assurance that he is guiding 
them with the counsels of his love to the man- 
sions of his glory. The Psalm was written 
during a season of peculiar trial and tempta- 
tion. Personal afflictions had weighed down 
the spirit of the psalmist, for " all the day long 



116 THE BELIEVER'S INTERCOURSE. 

had lie been plagued, and chastened every 
morning."* And from the depth of his own 
sorrow he looked forth upon the unbelieving 
world, and, lo ! they were not in trouble, nor 
plagued ; they prospered, they increased in 
riches. His faith quailed at the comparison. 
The children were straitened and crushed : the 
rebels were enlarged and exalted. But wor- 
ship in the sanctuary of God solved all his per- 
plexities, as it so often has done those of other 
believers, and enabled him to read the things 
of time in the light of eternity. There and 
then he learned to prize his communion with 
God above all their vain prosperity. " Never- 
theless," he exclaims, amid the distress of his 
chastened, tempted spirit, "I am continually 
with thee ;" though once far off, I can and do 
draw daily nigh by the blood of sprinkling.f 
The ungodly may have the society of the great 
ones of this world, and unbroken health, and 
unruffled spirits therewithal ; but I have the 
society of the King of kings, and though 

* Psa. Ixxiii. 14. f E P h - & 13. 



THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE. 117 

11 feeble and sore broken "* can sit at Jesus' 
feet, and hear his word. They are set on 
high, " in slippery places/'f and will be cast 
down as in a moment ; whereas, " Thou hast 
holden me." Though perchance now I walk 
through the valley of humiliation and tears, 
u Thou hast holden me by my right hand." 



EVENING. 
THE BELIEVERS ASSURANCE. 

14 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterawrd 
receive me to glory." — Psa. lxxiii. 24. 

Yes, it is from the communion we enjoy on 
earth that we obtain the foretaste and antici- 
pation of the communion we shall have here- 
after. It is when we catch the whispers of his 
Spirit saying, " The blood of Jesus cleanseth 
us from all sin,";]: that we can realize the bliss 
of being " presented faultless before the pres- 

* Psa. xxxviii. 8. f Psa. lxxiii. 18. :£ 1 John, i. 1. 



118 THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE. 

ence of his glory with exceeding joy."* It is 
when we hear his voice, " Come unto me, all 
ye that labor and are heavy laden, "f that we 
can anticipate the welcome, " Come, ye blessed 
of my Father, inherit the kingdom.";}: It is 
when the Comforter takes of the grace and 
glory of Jesus, and shows him unto us,§ 
"whom having not seen, we love,"|| that we 
have a foretaste of the hour when our eyes 
shall see the King in his beauty."^ And 
what as to the intervening season, the journey 
betwixt us and our home, the little while, 
which to love seems so long, ere we see him as 
he is ? Why, as to this we gain a comfortable 
assurance — " Thou shalt guide me with thy 
counsel." The infinite wisdom of the Triune 
God is applied to order our intermediate path- 
way. There is not one step, not one winding 
of our way, not one incident of our travel, but 
each is foreseen and provided for, so that we 
can say, " We know that all things work to- 

* Jude, 24. t Matt. xi. 28. % Mait. xxv. 84. 

§ See John, xvi. 15. ] 1 Pet. i. 8. Tf Isa. xxxiii. 17. 



THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE. lib 

gether for good."* Blessed result of being 
continually with God ! O harassed soldier, 
get thee to thy strong habitation, whereunto 
thou may est continually resort ;f and thou wilt 
find " the Captain of thy salvation is bringing 
thee among his many sons unto glory.";]: 

* Rom. viii. 28. f Psa. lxxi. 3. % Heb - "■ 20 - * 



THE PRUNING KNIFE. 

*' Every "branch that "beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that 
it may bring forth more fruit." — John, xv. 2. 

You have seen a skilful gardener pruning 
a vine ; tow he disentangles its vagrant ten- 
drils, which were clasping unsuitable supports ; 
how he cuts off its superfluous shoots, which 
were wasting its strength in their wild luxu- 
riance ; how tenderly he trains the fruit-bear- 
ing branches, often against their will, that they 
may occupy their appointed space, and bask in 
the warmest sunshine. A heedless spectator 
blames the merciless severity of his pruning- 
knife. "My friend," replies the gardener, " I 
am looking to the autumn; it is a healthy 
plant; it will soon recover its shorn appear- 
ance, and all its strength will now go to nourish 
and mature its delicious grapes. Think you 



THE PRUNING KNIFE. 121 

I would take all these pains with a wild vine, 
or a sapless graft ? Believe me, I take pecu- 
liar interest in that tree, and expect much 
praise from its fruit." 

Yes, suffering child of God, it is the fruit- 
bearing branches which Jesus purges and 
prunes : the unfruitful ones are u cast forth and 
withered." Think not, because of the keen- 
ness of your sorrows, that you are not a branch 
of the true vine. Every living bough bears 
marks of the knife. Be it that some of your 
dearest hopes have been broken, and the af- 
fections you had twined round earthly things 
disentangled; be it that your health, your 
wealth, your friends, have been taken away, be 
it that you are taken from where you wished to 
be, and constrained to occupy an irksome po- 
sition — it is only what the gardener does with 
his favorite plant. Instead of struggling with 
his will, yield yourself to his training ; draw 
larger supplies from the life-giving parent stem ; 
bend your energies, not to waywardness of 
growth, but to richness of fruit ; and in the 
11 



122 MUCH FRUIT. 

everlasting summer you will bless the hand 
that ventured to apply the unflinching severi- 
ties of love. 



EVENING. 
MUCH FRUIT. 



"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye "bear much 
fruit." — John, xv. 8. 

I believe there is no Christian who might 
not bring forth much fruit; nor anyone who 
ought to be content without. Connect this 
verse with the 13th verse of the previous 
chapter: u Whatsoever ye shall ask in my 
name, that will I do, that the Father may be 
glorified in the Son ;" that is, " much fruit," and 
prayer granted for Jesus' sake, unite in one 
blessed, eternal result — the glory of the Father. 
Now, the chain of reasoning is the most sim- 
ple and conclusive imaginable. Much glory to 
God results from much fruit in his children. 



MUCH FRUIT. 123 

Much fruit requires much grace from Jesus, 
for "he that abideth in me, and I in him, the 
same bringeth forth much fruit ; for without 
me ye can do nothing."* Much grace is the 
pledged answer to much prayer ; " Whatsoever 
ye shall ask;" there are a thousand requisites, 
bring every one to the throne of grace. Lastly, 
much prayer is the link of the chain that touches 
us. " Duties are ours, events are Grod's," This 
is our blessed duty. We know not, indeed, 
"what we should pray for as we ought ;"f 
but he will put upon us " the Spirit of grace 
and of supplications,"^: who helpeth our infirm- 
ities. 

Have I not proved from Scripture that there 
is no Christian who might not bring forth 
much fruit? Oh, believer, make this case 
yours ; be, so to speak, careless of everything 
else, if only you may bring forth much fruit. 
Think not it springs from active service only. 
Ah, many a rich cluster of grapes has ripened 
on the bed of affliction. Ere long the hea- 

* John, xv. 5. f Rom. viii. 26. % Zech. xii. 10. 



124 MUCH FRUIT. 

venly Husbandman and Bridegroom, when his 
election is complete, shall say with exultation, 
11 My wife is as the fruitful vine upon the walls 
of mine house."* 

* Psa. cxxviii. 3. 



WHAT GRACE HAS DONE. 

"By the grace of G-od I am what I am." — 1 Cor. xv. 10. 

Think what grace did for St. Paul. Once 
he made " havock of the church ;"* he was " a 
blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious ;"f 
yea, in wounding his disciples, he wounded 
and persecuted Christ himself. All his noble 
talents were leagued on the side of Satan ; his 
deep learning, his fearless intrepidity, his en- 
thusiastic zeal, all the powers of that "myriad- 
minded" man, were confederate against his 
God and Saviour. His early prejudices, his 
present plans, his future hopes, were as walls 
and bulwarks around his unbelief. But then, 
grace came, omnipotent grace; and the ram- 
parts of that great soul fell like the walls of 

* Acts, viii. 3. f l Tim - »* 13 



126 WHAT GRACE HAS DONE. 

Jericho ; the impregnable citadel was carried 
in an hour, and all its ample magazines were 
redeemed for the service of the Lord. Hence- 
forth he lived for Christ. One thing he did, 
he pressed towards the mark; he seemed to 
claim and desire no time, no cessation, no re- 
pose for himself; Christ was his all and in all, 
the salvation of souls his one master passion. 
How cheerfully does he buffet the waves of 
affliction, while he keeps his eye on the firm 
shore of eternity, near at hand. Death was no 
gloomy subject to him, for he desired to depart 
and be with Christ ; and yet life was full of 
momentous interests, for every day bore the 
rich fruit of his labors to the glory of his 
Master. 

Behold the work of grace ! free, unbought, 
unmerited, unlimited grace ! Boasting was 
excluded. It was all grace from the founda- 
tion to the top-stone; but how glorious the 
work when finished ! how was Jesus magni- 
fied in him ! What multitudes may trace to 
his instrumentality their everlasting felicity. 



WHAT GliACE CAN DO. 127 

Truly " the grace bestowed upon him was not 
in vain."* 



EVENING. 

WHAT GRACE CAN DO. 

" Te all are partakers of my grace." — Phil. i. 7. 

We have seen what grace did for St. Paul. 
Believer, you are a partaker of the same grace, 
and according to your measure that grace can 
enable you to bring forth the same fruits. 
Were you in any way dependent upon your- 
self, it would be presumption to expect such a 
high standard of holiness and usefulness ; but 
remember, it is grace, all grace. You are not 
magnifying self, but Christ : you are not glori- 
fying your ability, but Grod's. Call yourself by 
what name you will expressive of strengthless- 
ness and worthlessness — say you are "foolish, 
weak, base, despised, "f yea, not worthy the 
name of an instrument in God's hand at all, 

* 1 Cor. xv. 10. f ! Cor - i- 26 » 28 



128 WHAT GRACE OAJST DO. 

" a thing that is not " — still these are the very 
things which God hath chosen to confound 
the wise, the mighty, the noble of this world. 
These are his choice instruments, "that no 
flesh should glory in his presence."* Ee- 
member the victory in the valley of Kamath- 
lehi.f Who would think of ascribing the 
triumph to the base, insignificant instrument ? 
And if the jawbone of an ass in the strong 
grasp of a Sainton could perform such pro- 
digies, why should you, who are upheld by 
the arm of Omnipotence, grow faint-hearted in 
the heavenly warfare ? Grace enabled St. 
Paul even "to glory in infirmities, that the 
power of Christ might rest upon him;":}: to 
sing at midnight in the inner prison ;§ to be 
willing to die at Jerusalem, " not counting his 
life dear unto him, so that he might finish his 
course with joy."|| Blessed believer, there is 
the same grace for you. 

* 1 Cor. i. 29. f Judges, xv. 14, 1*7. 

% 2 Cor. xii. 9. § Acts, xvi. 25. 

Acts, xx. 24 ; xxi. 13. 



®tottttn-$ig!*tj[ flaming. 

THE LEADING APART. 

"Jesus leadeth them up into an high, mountain apart by 
themselves " — Mark, ix. 2. 

Those wlio liad heard the weighty com- 
mission given to the disciples, "Go to the 
lost sheep of the house of Israel ; preach 
(as ye go) ; heal the sick, raise the dead, cast 
out devils;"* or those who had seen them 
diligently and successfully engaged in their 
ministry of mercy, might, with some show of 
reason, have asked, " Wiry are these men 
called away from their holy and momentous 
work ? The time is short ; while they are 
absent, the sick may die and souls may 
perish." But we may rest assured the Lord 
knew what he was about, when he led his 
three chosen disciples into an high mountain 

* Matt. x. 6-8. 



130 THE LEADING APART. 

apart by themselves ; that not one soul was 
damaged, but multitudes eternally blessed by 
their temporary seclusion. He was about to 
manifest himself unto them in his transfigura- 
tion glory as he did not unto the world. How 
confidently do the apostles hereafter appeal to 
this as the most irresistible evidence of his 
Divinity. " We beheld his glory," writes St. 
John, " the glory as of the only begotten of 
the Father,"* and referring to this hour St. 
Peter adds, " We were eye-witnesses of his 
majesty, "f 

Christian sufferer, you may have been called 
from some station of eminent usefulness to lie 
upon the bed of weakness and solitude ; and 
may easily perplex your spirit by asking, 
" Who will carry forward my spiritual work ? 
will it not suffer from my absence? shall I 
ever recover the vantage-ground I now am 
losing?" Only believe that Jesus is leading 
you by the hand, only seek to gain clearer 
views of his glory, only commit your work to 
* John, i. 14. t 2 Pet i 16. 



GOODLY RETIREMENT. 131 

him to whom you have committed your soul ; 
and your future usefulness shall evidence, " He 
hath done all things well." 



EVENING. 
GOODLY RETIREMENT. 

"Master, it is good for us to "be here." — MAsk, ix. 5, 

Good indeed ; they had left the toil and 
trouble of the world below ; they had escaped 
the ignorance and incredulity of man ; they 
were with Jesus, and with him now that 
somewhat of the brightness of his glory shone 
through the tabernacle of his humanity ; they 
witnessed how departed saints were not lost 
but only withdrawn, and at the call of theis 
Master would quietly and quickly reappear on 
the visible stage of things; they heard the 
conversation which they held with the Lord ; 
and the undefined, half-conscious impression 
of intense joy found utterance in these words 
of St. Peter, "Master, it is good for us to be hera" 



132 GOODLY RETIREMENT. 

Believer, have you not felt like emotions at 
some favored hours of spiritual experience? 
Perhaps some season of silent communion with 
your God, some occasion of holy intercourse 
with your brethren, some heavenly fellowship 
at the table of your Lord ; some sabbath even- 
ing, when the continual play of sabbath in- 
fluences upon the mind throughout the day 
has filled you with that holy " peace which 
passeth all understanding " — at such times have 
you not been ready to exclaim, " Master, it is 
good for us to be here," and fain never more to 
descend to the stress and the struggle of life ? 
Yet consider, if the apostles' course had termi- 
nated on the mount of transfiguration, what 
disastrous consequences, speaking after the 
manner of men, would have ensued for earth ; 
what a diminished harvest of glory for them- 
selves. Be content, believer, to climb or to 
descend the mountain as your master wills ; at 
no distant day thou shalt hear the final call, 
"Come up hither," and find not tabernacles 
but mansions prepared. 



THE FEIENDLY TEMPEST. 

M Stormy -wind fulfilling his word." — Psa. cxlviii. 8. 

It is easy for us, when the south wind 
blows softly, when "the flowers appear on 
the earth, and the voice of the turtle is heard 
in our land,"* when we are led on in green 
pastures and by the waters of comfort, to con- 
fess the goodness of the Lord, and acknowl- 
edge how tenderly and wisely he is guiding 
us homeward. The confession is, indeed, 
most true, and the Lord delights in such 
grateful praises of his happy, peaceful chil- 
dren. Still it is an easy lesson from faith's 
primer ; we can soon read it fluently ; but 
there are more obscure passages in God's 
providence, which even advanced Christians 

* Songs, ii 12. 
12 



134 THE FKIENDLY TEMPEST. 

often only spell out with difficulty. When 
the heaven grows black with clouds and 
wind, when the roll of the thunder seems 
nearer every peal, and the lightnings more 
vivid every flash, when the storm falls upon 
us, and the waves rage horribly on every side, 
— then to look confidingly upward and say, 
" The stormy wind fulfilleth his word ;" " The 
Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the 
storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet :"* 
this is the victory of faith." This eminently 
honors God, and enables us, (as scientific 
men have recently discovered the law of 
storms, and can now use these once dreaded 
hurricanes to further their onward voyage,) 
with the heavenly science of faith, to rejoice 
in the tempest of tribulation, and employ its 
tumultuous blasts to hasten our heavenward 
journey. 

* Nahum, i. & 



THE DESIRED HAVEN. 135 

EVENING. 

THE DESIRED HAVEN 

" So he bringeth them unto their desired haven." 
— Psa. cvii. bu. 

May we not apply that little word so to the 
terrific storm that had been before described, 
as well as to the blessed calm which succeeded 
it ? For the tempest is expressly declared to 
be one of the works of the Lord, one of his 
wonders in the deep ; then he calms the storm, 
and so he brings them to the haven where they 
would be. If we may, this would make the 
word deeply significant and emphatic. The 
command given, the raising of the stormy 
wind, the lifting up of the waves, the mariners 
mounting to heaven, and going down again to 
the depths, their soul melting because of their 
trouble, their reeling to and fro, and staggering 
on the billowSjL until the prayer of anguish is 
wrung from their hearts, and ascends in strong 
crying to God — all these, as well as the quiet 



136 THE DESIRED HAVEN. 

calm that follows, would go to make up that 
" so ;" they were all steps in the infinite wis- 
dom of that course whereby he brings them to 
their desired haven. There is peculiar force 
in that expression, " their desired haven." I 
have seen many ships in stress of weather 
gladly put into a harbor of refuge ; but oh, it 
was not their desired haven ; they were all anx- 
iety for the wind to change and the weather to 
moderate, that they might steer again to their 
destined port: they have been driven back 
again and again to this way-side shelter, but 
never dreamed for a moment of making it a 
substitute for their far-off home: they were 
bound for another haven, and thither they must 
go. 

Tempest-tossed believer, hold on thy way, 
enjoy gratefully such shelter as the Lord allows 
thee ; but think not to find thy rest, till thou 
canst anchor in the desired haven of glory. 



MERCY, NOT SACRIFICE. 

" I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." — Matt. ix. 13. 

There are two diverse temptations that as- 
sail the soul from opposite quarters : one, per- 
haps, the most frequent, that of self-indulg- 
ence ; so sparing ourselves, our strength, our 
time, our money, that we offer to the Lord that 
which will cost us little or nothing : the other, 
and that no unusual one, impetuous self-sacri- 
fice ; so not sparing ourselves, that we exhaust 
our talents prematurely, and appear as if we 
thought our work and labors indispensable. 
This, too, is a temptation from the evil one. 
There may be occasions, doubtless, when upon 
a clear call of duty, like the Macedonians, we 
must be willing to spend and be spent " to our 
12* 



188 

power, yea, and beyond our power ;"• when, 
like Epaphroditus, " for the work of Christ' ' we 
must not regard our life ;f when " we ought 
to lay down our lives for the brethren ;"$ and 
like St. Paul, be " ready not to be bound only, 
but also to die for the name of the Lord 
Jesus."§ But there are also occasions when 
the Lord as plainly says, " Come ye yourselves 
apart into a desert place, and rest awhile ;"| 
when he says, " Your strength is to sit still. . . . 
In returning and rest shall ye be saved f% 
when his providences charge us, " Be still, and 
know that I am God."** The feeling naturally 
rises, u I must work, I cannot give up ; I will 
sacrifice health, and wealth, and everything to 
continue in active service." My brother, here 
you are saying, " I will sacrifice everything ;" 
the Lord replies, " I will have mercy, and not 
sacrifice." The will of God and yours are 
opposed. Can there be a moment's question 

* Cor. yiii. 3. f Phil. ii. 30. % 1 John, iii. 16. 

§ Acts, xxi. 13. J Mark, vi. 31. f Isa, xxx 7, 15. 

** Psa. xlvi. 10. 



THE UNDERSTANDING FRIEND. 139 

which should give way? Jesus has taught 
you when he prayed, "Nevertheless, not what 
I will, but what thou wilt."* 



EVENING. 
THE UNDERSTANDING FEIEND. 

u For he knoweth our frame ; lie rememDereth that we 
are dust." — Psa. ciii. 14. 

The same principle applies to a Christian in 
the chamber of sickness. He is shut out in- 
deed from active service, so far he is compelled 
to rest on his arms ; but the believer's chief 
battle-field is within, and though the world be 
excluded, he has still to wage daily warfare 
with the flesh and the devil. In this warfare, 
" the Lord will have mercy, and not sacrifice." 
It may seem a trivial remark, but I believe 
many are tried with a certain conscientious 
scruple, that whatever happens they will not 
diminish aught from their religious exercises ; 

* Mark, xiv. 36. 



140 THE UNDERSTANDING FRIEND. 

and thus, with a debilitated body, they make 
a weariness of that which in health would be 
their comfort and refreshment. But he know- 
eth our frame, he knoweth what we have need 
of before we ask him. "Watch a mother as she 
nurses her sick child. How she catches the 
faintest intimations of its wants ; and broken 
whispers, and signs, which would be to others 
unintelligible, make every necessity known to 
here wakeful solicitude. And yet hers is at 
best but imperfect knowledge and imperfect 
love. But He who loves us infinitely, knoweth 
our frame, and remembers — for he deeply ex- 
perienced our susceptibility of suffering and 
sorrow — he remembers that we are dust. 



irtjj-Jfint fUnung, 



THE QUIET CONQUERORS. 

"Ye shall not need bo fight in this battle; set your- 
selves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the 
Lord with yon." — 2 Chron, xx. 17. 

"When an afflicted believer considers the 
number and malignity of his foes, that the 
world around him is one vast battle-field of 
temptation, that his traitorous heart within is 
ever ready for treachery, that " he wrestles not 
against flesh and blood, but against wicked 
spirits,"* whose vigilance detects every moment 
of weakness, and whose fiendish hostility never 
waits till he has recovered his strength ; when 
looking at himself he can only exclaim, "I 
am feeble and sore-broken ;" when, again, he 
remembers his Captain's charge, " Fight the 
good fight" — may he not easily be cast down 

* Eph. vi. 12. 



142 THE QUIET CONQUERORS. 

at such a review, and say, " I have no strength 
for the war, the burden is too great for me ?" 
Jehoshaphat's victory may repel every fear ; 
Judah won, and yet fought not.* They set 
themselves in battle array, they sang hallelujahs 
of triumph, they were all ready to fight, and 
yet not one sword-stroke was needed, not one 
arrow was shot, not one lance was flung. Had 
they tremblingly kept within the city walls ; 
or, panic-stricken, dispersed to their homes, 
the battle would never have been won. " The 
battle is not yours," exclaims the prophet, 
" but God's;" still he bids them take the field 
and set their array. Then God fought for 
Israel. 

Christian soldier, only see to it that you are 
in the path of duty, or if you will, upon the 
bed of duty ; and though too ill to frame a 
prayer, or wield, as you are wont, the sword 
of the Spirit, rest assured that a successful 
fight is waging, that God has undertaken for 
you,f and that even now you are among 

* 2 Chron. xx. 21, 22. f Isa. xxxviii. 14. 



THE REBUKED FOE. 113 

those who " are more than conquerors through 
him that loved them."* 



EVENING. 
THE REBUKED FOE. 



u He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow 
there " — 2 Kings, sis. 32. 

Peculiarly comforting to the tempted and 
tried disciple is the experience of Hezekiah, 
during Sennacherib's invasion. There was 
such an overwhelming multitude of foes, they 
came with such anticipations of triumph, they 
pleaded with such show of reason their past 
successes f — they even arrogated the Divine 
commission to destroy,^: and promised such 
seductive allurements if Israel would only sub- 
mit § — nothing of might, nothing of subtlety 
seemed wanting to make their onset irresistible 
— yet faith, stood the shock ; the proud waves 

* Rom. viii. 37. f 2 Kings, xviii. 33, 34. 

% 2 Kings, xviii. 25. § 2 Kings, xviii. 32. 



144 THE REBUKED FOE. 

of that invasion broke harmless on the rock of 
confidence in God. How much wisdom was 
there in the king's commandment, "Answer 
him not ! " * We may learn much from it for 
our heavenly warfare. Often is it our wisdom 
not to reason with, or attempt to answer the 
temptations that assail our faith. Simply, like 
Hezekiah, carry them to the Lord in prayer ; 
spread them before the Lord. If we argue 
the suggestions that trouble us, argue them in 
prayer before the mercy-seat, we shall find, 
as Hezekiah did, a ready answer to all " the 
bold, but baseless" arguments of our arch- 
enemy. And while we are praying, our prayer 
enters into the ears of the Lord of hosts, 
and he sends us, not as of old, by the mouth, 
of his prophet, but as surely by the pledge of 
his promises, an answer of peace and an assur- 
ance of salvation. 

* 2 Kings, xviii. 36. 



f inrtj-Suflitfo Darning, 

LOOK AND LIVE. 

"Look unto me, and be ye saved." — Isa xlv. 22. 

The sight of Jesus by faith is the beginning 
of spiritual life. Wounded, diseased, dying, 
the Israelites lay along their stricken camp, 
when the joyful proclamation is heard, " Make 
thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole : — 
every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon 
it, shall live. And it came to pass, that if a 
serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld 
the serpent of brass, he lived." * Weary, 
woful, withering away under the deadly plague 
of sin, sinners lie in earth's vast lazar-house, 
awaiting death, and after death the judgment. 
But the glad tidings of the gospel are pro- 
claimed in that abode of disease and death : 
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh 

* Numb. xxi. 8, 9. 
19 



146 LOOK AND LIVE. 

away the sin of the world."* And it comes 
to pass, every one when he looketh upon him 
lives. There is that in the sight of a crucified 
Saviour, brought home . to the heart by the 
Spirit of God, which conveys life to the dying 
soul. The sinner's guilt transferred to Jesus, 
there cancelled and forever blotted out; the 
Saviour's goodness transferred to the sinner, 
laid upon him, clothing him forever. Oh, 
blessed transference ! Henceforth the sinner 
lives. He looks, believes, lives, and loves. 

Suffering Christian, your affliction may pre- 
vent any close and intimate reasoning, and 
physical weakness may baffle you when you 
assay any deep meditations : how precious 
then to you the unparalleled simplicity of the 
gospel plan ! Christ died for you, the Just for 
the unjust, that he might bring you to God. 
" We care for no knowledge in the world but 
this," writes the learned and clear-sighted 
Hooker, " that man hath sianed and God hath 
suffered." All his learning exhausted not this 

* John, L 29. 



RUN, LOOKING. 147 

blessed, simple truth. This at least }^ou know 
and understand. Amidst the shipwreck of 
health, and strength, and intellectual powers, 
and earthly hopes, cling to this plank — the 
most learned and noble are saved by no other 
— it will bear you safely to glory. 



EVENING. 
BUN, LOOKING. 



"Run . . looking unto Jesus." — Heb, xii. 1, 2. 

Not only is the sight of Jesus the beginning 
of our spiritual life, it is also its continuation. 
Like Moses, we only endure " as seeing Him 
who is invisible."* Like Peter, we can only 
walk upon the waves of this troublesome world 
while we look at Jesus : as soon as we begin to 
look at the boisterous waves and winds, we 
shall begin to sink. The word in the original f 
for looking unto Jesus is peculiarly full of 

* Heb. xi. 21. f dtyopCov-es. 



148 KUN, LOOKING. 

meaning — it is " looking off unto Jesus." As 
the racer looked not at the wayside objects, 
but kept his eye upon the laurel wreath at the 
distant goal, so let the believer, looking off the 
enticing pomps and pleasures of this wicked 
world, looking off the troubles and trials 
which may so easily perplex him with un- 
believing fears, look stedfastly at Jesus, the 
author and finisher of his faith. So running 
he shall obtain. 



Ifeiri2-®!rir& Pining. 

A CLEARER SIGHT. 

■ Absent from the "body, — present with the Lord."— 
2 Cor v. 8. 

The sight of Jesus sheds a glow and a 
brightness over the gloomy hour of death. 
He will be with us through all the dark 
valley, so that, as M'Cheyne says, " The 
valley shall be filled with light." He will 
meet us on the other side. If death overtake 
us before the coming of our Lord, as soon as 
we close our eyes on the things of earth, we 
shall open them upon Jesus. " Absent from 
the body, — present with the Lord"; there is 
no interval of dreary separation, but as soon 
as the disembodied spirit enters the unseen 
world, it is with Jesus. " When thou passest 
through the waters, I will be with thee;"* 

* Isa. xliii. 2. 
13* 



150 A CLEARER SIGHT. 

and the same hand that invisibly bore us 
through the rivers, shall visibly greet us to 
the shore of glory. This made St. Paul desire 
"to depart, and to be with Christ, which," he 
assures us, " is far better."* And though we 
have not much in Scripture revealed concern- 
ing the state of departed spirits before the 
resurrection, it is evidently, from this passage, 
one of closer, fuller, more conscious, more 
present, and more visible communion with 
Christ than we can enjoy on earth. It is, 
indeed, an imperfect state individually, as St. 
Paul implies, when he says, " Not for that 
we would be unclothed," while our body re- 
mains death's trophy in the grave ; and imper- 
fect socially, for "they without us shall not 
be made perfect " f while part of the host is 
militant here on earth. Still it is a mighty 
advance on our present condition : it is "sleep- 
ing in Jesus." "What calm, unspeakable rest 
is implied in these words ! And what a rest- 
ing-place ! See a weeping, weary child hushed 
* Phil. L 33. + Heb.xL40. 



PERFECT SIGHT. 151 

to sleep upon its mother's bosom. Faint 
image of the emancipated soul. 

Afflicted saint, is death in prospect ? Care 
not to think of its physical terrors, the needful 
strength will be given for " the time of need ;" 
but familiarize this aspect of it to your mind, 
it is to be " present with the Lord," "to be 
with Christ," "to sleep in Jesus;" when the 
struggle shall be forever ended, and the voice 
of the tempter forever stilled. Is it not " far 
better?" 



EVENING. 
PERFECT SIGHT. 



"When he shall appear, we shall he like him ; for we 
shall see him as he is." — 1 John, iii. 2. 

But though far better, it is not the best of 
all : that remaineth for the time when " the 
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a 
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 



152 PERFECT SIGHT. 

with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ 
shall rise first :" and "we which are alive and 
remain shall be caught up together with them 
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air : and 
so shall we ever be with the Lord."* Then 
shall we be satisfied, when we awake up after 
his likeness ;f when this natural body, sown 
in corruption, in dishonor, in weakness, in 
mortality, is raised a spiritual body, in incor- 
ruption, in glory, in power, in immortality $ 
when, presented " faultless before the presence 
of his glory with exceeding joy,"§ we catch 
and reflect, even as a polished mirror, "the 
cloudless effulgence of his love." " We shall 
be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 
Can words be stronger? There is no room 
for imperfection here — -it cannot slide in be- 
tween the Saviour and his glorified people. 
Perfect holiness, and therefore perfect bliss. 
Never shall we weary of that contemplation. 
If we look continuously upon a work of human 

* 1 Thess. iv. 16, 11. f Psa xyii - 16 - 

X 1 Cor. xv. 42-44, 54. § Jude, 24. 



PERFECT SIGHT. 153 

art, however exquisite and elaborate, in time 
we exhaust its marvels or its beauties, and we 
desire something new. But of Jesus it is writ- 
ten, " His name is Wonderful (or Secret)."* 
Whatever attainment in knowledge of him we 
acquire, there remains an infinite fulness yet 
unexplored. And throughout eternity will 
his unfathomable love, and wisdom, and glory, 
and power, combine to afford a never-ending 
feast of joy to his blissful and adoring people. 

* Isa. ix. 6 See margin of Judges, xiii. 18. 



WHAT, LORD? 

" Lord, -what wilt thou have me to do ?" — Acts, ix. 6. 

How many of our perplexities arise from 
so often asking, "Why, Lord?" instead of 
"What, Lord?" Who has watched children 
in their studies or their play, without observ- 
ing how frequently, when a command is given, 
the question rises to their lips, "But why, 
mother ?" A wise parent will by no means 
always answer this inquisitive " why ;" often 
her only reply is, " Because I tell you, my 
child :" for thus only can she teach implicit 
obedience. Oh that we remembered the les- 
sons of our childhood in the heavenly school- 
room. Oh that, when we heard or read the 
directions of Scripture, we obeyed with child- 
like faith. But how often, instead of quieting 



HEAD THE SIGN-POSTS. 155 

our souls as a weaned child, do we exercise 
ourselves in matters too high for us ;* and then 
no wonder that we are puzzled and baffled, and 
have to confess with David, a As for me, my 
feet were almost gone ; my steps had well 
nigh slipped." Words cannot tell the peace 
that flows from receiving with unquestioning 
trust the precepts and and promises of God's 
word. Their apparent contrarieties all vanish 
when received on trust and reduced to prac- 
tice. The gospel key exactly fits the intricate 
wards of man's nature. You may ask, Why 
is it ? how can it be ? and such like queries, 
for years ; but apply it, and the mystery is 
solved at once. 



EVENING. 

READ THE SIGN-POSTS. 

•'I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which 
thou shalt go." — Psa. sxxii. 8. 

Would that, in the heavenly pilgrimage, we 
used the directions of the Bible as travellers 

* Psa. cxxxi. 1, 2. 



156 READ THE SIGX-POSTS. 

use the sign-posts in every perplexitjr of their 
road ! To begin with the very beginning of 
spiritual life. When first the Spirit of Grod 
awakens the soul to see its lost condition, as 
dead in trespasses and sins, how plain the in- 
vitation, " Come unto me, all ye that labour and 
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."* 
How clear the promise, " Him that cometh to 
me I will in no wise cast out."f Do not stand 
questioning, but come. But you say, " My 
heart is hard " ;- — I know it — desperately hard ; 
but look again, " He (the Comforter) will re- 
prove the world of sin, "$ and "How much 
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy 
Spirit to them that ask him ?"§ Do not stand 
questioning, but ask. Convinced of sin, and 
sorrowing with a godly sorrow, you cry, u O 
wretched man that I am ;" but look up, " Be- 
hold the Lamb of Grod, which taketh away the 
sins of the world. 7 '! Do not hang your head 

* Matt. xi. 28. i John, vi. 31. 

% John, xvi. 8. § Luke, xi. 13. 

| John, i. 29. 



READ THE SIGN-POSTS. 157 

in doubt, but gaze with, weeping eyes upon 
your dying, crucified Kedeemer. You ask 
again, " Was my sin laid on him? — may such 
as I hope for pardon ?" Search, and you shall 
find, " Whosoever believeth in him shall not 
perish;"* " Whosoever will, let him take the 
water of life freely :"f — do not linger, but take. 
Having set out on the way, you are assaulted 
with unbelieving fears : look for the sign-post ; 
it is written, " If any man will do his will, he 
shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of 
God."J Do not lose the precious moments ; 
walk earnestly in present duties ; knowledge 
and assurance shall increase every step. You 
are weak — look up and read, "I will strengthen 
thee."§ You are perplexed — read once more, 
" I will guide thee."|| You are anxious for 
the future— but he promises, "I will never 
leave thee." You are bereaved — " Sorrow not 
as others which have no hope ; for them that 
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."^ 

* John, iiL 16. f Rev. xxil 17. \ John, vii.17. 

§ Isa. xlL 10. I Psa. xxxil 8. «|f 1 Thess. iv. 13, 14 

14 



158 BEAD THE SIGN-POSTS. 

Look thus at the Bible as a succession of sign- 
posts along your pilgrim road ; simply trust 
and obey, you will soon find yourself in sight 
of the celestial city. 



THE MYSTERIOUS FORWARD. 

'Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the 
children of Israel, that they go forward." — Exod. 
xiv. 15. 

The close and instructive analogy between 
Israel's redemption from Egypt, and the be- 
liever's redemption from the bondage of sin, 
has often been observed ; but let us try and 
draw a few lessons from some passages in their 
history that seem especially designed for the 
encouragement of the afflicted Christian. What 
situation can be imagined more apparently 
hopeless than theirs immediately after their 
escape from slavery ? At the very commence- 
ment of their journey, when their faith was 
yet unconfirmed, and their hearts still trembled 
with the thought of their recent oppression, 
they were brought into the barren wilderness, 
and stopped on the shores of an impassable sea. 



160 THE MYSTERIOUS FORWARD. 

Tremblingly they looked behind, and there was 
the cruel Pharaoh in the pride of his strength 
thirsting to lead them back to captivity. Their 
leader was indeed undaunted, but what a 
strange, inexplicable command he gives them 
from the Lord, " Gro forward !" Forward ! 
were they not on the furthest verge of possi- 
bility ? Forward ! what, into the foaming 
waves, into the depths of the pathless sea? 
Yes, the command is clear — " Speak unto the 
children of Israel, that they go forward." 
Their extremity was God's opportunity. He 
shielded them from danger behind ;* he open- 
ed a way before them ; and the waters, which 
they looked upon as their grave, " were a wall 
unto then on their right hand, and on their 
left;"f and soon the song of triumph floated 
on the winds, " Sing ye to the Lord, for he 
hath triumphed gloriously."^: 

Believer, can you be bestead more hardly 
than Israel? Is perplexity before you and 
fear behind? Still go forward. Pray on; 

* Exod. xiv. 19. f Exod. xiv. 22. J Exod. xv. 21, 



NO WATER. 161 

liold fast by Jesus ; do the duty of the present 
hour ; take the next step onward, though you 
"walk in darkness;"' 55 ' only "go forward," and 
ere long you shall cheerfully sing with your 
fellow-travellers — 

" From Egypt lately come, 

Where death and darkness reign, 
We seek our new, our better home, 
Where we our rest shall gain. 
Hallelujah 1 we are on our way to God. 



EVENING, 
NO WATER. 



" There vas no water fox the people to drink; where 
fore the people did chide with Moses." — Exod. 
xvii. 1, 2. 

Israel would have been well content to 
have lingered at Elim, where there "were 
twelve wells of water, and three-score and ten 
palm-trees, "f We read nothing about their 
murmuring there, but the pillar of fire and 
cloud went onwards ; for the Lord would not 
have them stop short of the land of promise ; 

* Isa.1.10. f Exod. xv. 27. 

14* 



162 NO WATER. 

it went onwards and led them into the wilder- 
ness of Sin. There poor Israel's faith faltered 
and failed. They murmured for bread, but 
then the Lord " rained down manna upon 
them, and gave them of the corn of heaven 
and of angels' food."* But the pillar of fire 
and cloud went onwards, and Israel pitched in 
Eephidim. There was no water to drink, and 
again their faith swerved and gave way under 
the pressure of trial. But they had not ex- 
hausted the loving-kindness of their God, " He 
opened the rock, and the waters gushed out ; 
they ran in the dry places like a river, "f 

We have but a faint conception of the tor- 
ture of thirst in eastern lands, or should per- 
haps frame readier excuses for ungrateful Is- 
rael. But, believer, art thou repining under 
spiritual thirst? oh, cease thy chiding and thy 
murmurs, and betake thee to thy Eock of ages ; 
thence gushes the eternal well-spring of the 
water of life, and drinking there thou shalt 
never thirst again 4 

* Psa. lxxviii. 24, 25. f Psa.cv. 41. % John, iv. 14. 



®|irt2-^h1Ir Hunting, 

AMALEK'S ONSET UPON WEARY ISRAEL. 

c ' RememlDer what Amalek did unto thee .... how lie 
met thee "by the way, and smote the hindmost of 
thee, even all that were feehle "behind thee, when 
thou wast faint and weary." — Deut. zxv. 17, 18. 

Many a Christian has been most sorely as- 
saulted by Satan in his hours of greatest phy- 
sical weakness, and at such times has been 
grievously tempted to feel, " Surely I cannot 
truly be a child of God, or he would not suffer 
me to be thus smitten when least able to bear 
it." Let Israel's example cheer thee, my 
struggling fellow-pilgrim. Amalek, whom 
some have viewed as typical of Satan, was 
permitted to smite Israel when faint and 
weary; yet was Israel on that account not the 
chosen people of Grod? did Israel lose the 
battle ? did Israel fail of the promised land ? 



164 amalek's onset upon Israel. 

And let Israel's mode of warfare with. 
Amalek instruct thee. u When Moses held 
up his hand, Israel prevailed,"* and when his 
hands were heavy, Aaron and Hur stayed 
them up until the going down of the sun. 
Gird on thy weapon of " all prayer ;" 

" For Satan trembles when he sees 
The weakest saint upon his knees ;" 

and when thy hands are feeble, get thy breth- 
ren in the Lord to unite with thee, or unite 
for thee in earnest supplication, above all 
remembering how thy Advocate with the Fa- 
ther ever liveth to make intercession for thee ; 
and the serried ranks of hell, like those of 
Amalek, shall be discomfitedf beneath the re- 
sistless edge of " the prayer of faith.";}: Fight 
the good fight, and a greater than Joshua, the 
Captain of thy salvation, shall lead thee safely 
into "abetter country, that is, an heavenly."§ 

*Exod. xyii. 11. t Exod - xvii - ls - 

% James, v. 15. § Heb. xi. 16. 



THE CIRCUITOUS ROUTE. 165 



EVENING. 

THE CIRCUITOUS ROUTE. 

'And they journeyed from Mount Hot by the way of 
the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom : and the 
soul of the people was much discouraged "because 
of the way." — Numb. xxi. 4. 

Few things are more irksome to an impet- 
uous mind than being constrained to take a 
wearisome and circuitous route, when an ap- 
parently straight and easy one lies open. Such 
constraint so crosses all our natural self- wis- 
dom and self-indulgence, that it requires pe- 
culiar grace to yield cheerfully to this provi- 
dential pressure. And at no time is the lesson 
more difficult than when we have lately been 
favored and cheered by spiritual successes. 
Israel had recently vanquished Arad the Ca- 
naanite, and destroyed his cities ; but now, in- 
stead of being led straight into the land of 
promise, they were told to compass the land of 
Edom ; and, moreover, they found no bread 
except the manna. Their faith again failed 



166 THE CIRCUITOUS ROUTE. 

them. They " spake against God, and against 
Moses."* 

These things were written for our example. 
Let ns take timely warning from their fall, and 
draw blessed encouragement from their after- 
history. At length Jordan was passed, and 
Canaan won. Let us honor the -Lord by a 
cheerful confession: "Thou art leading me 
right, though leading me round;" and we shall 
find our souls thriving under the "light bread" 
of heaven, and discover unsuspected springs 
of consolation in the rocky wilderness. 

* Numb. xxi. 6. 



THE SWORD. 

" We must through much trihulation enter into the 
kingdom of God." — Acts, xiv. 22. 

The gate of the kingdom, as it appears from 
this, can only be approached by the pathway 
of. tribulation. Some, I grant yon, like the 
dying thief, find the path very short ; some 
have a lighter cross to bear than others ; some 
seem to forget their cross in the bright antici- 
pations of their crown. Yet still the witness 
of God standeth sure, " All that will live godly 
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."* How 
can it be otherwise ? The carnal mind, which 
is enmity against God ; the devil, who as a 
strong man armed keepeth his palace ; the 
world, which lieth in wickedness — are all well 
content that a soul should be unawakened, un- 

* 2 Tim. iii. 12. 



168 THE SW0KD. 

washed, unsaved. But let the grace of God 
once enter that soul, and a new principle is 
implanted, as opposed as light to darkness. 
War is inevitable, compromise impossible. 
The darkness will seek to quench the light, 
the light will progressively scatter the dark- 
ness. Will grace find a single natural affec- 
tion untainted? will grace abet any Satanic 
scheme ? will grace patiently endure the cor- 
rupting seductions of the world ? There must 
be conflict — sharp, painful, decisive conflict — 
till the soul, delivered from this present evil 
world, and now translated into the kingdom 
of grace, is brought hereafter into the kingdom 
of glory. There the struggle ceases, and must 
cease. When the child of light enters that 
world of everlasting light, he will need no 
more his armour, but only his white robe, his 
palm, and his harp. 



THE PALM. 169 

EVENING. 
THE PALM. 

M Clothed with "white robes, and palms in their hands." 
— Rev. vii. 9. 

The blessed multitude liere described were 
of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and 
tongues. How great was the variety of their 
calling and conversion ! how manifold the 
diversity of their spiritual training ! how wide 
asunder the hours and the accompaniments of 
their departure ! Some were called in the 
dewy dawn, some in the noonday, some in the 
twilight evening of life ; some lived in outward 
prosperity, and battled hard with inward temp- 
tation ; while others, calm and tranquil within, 
endured a great fight of afflictions from with- 
out. Some sank to rest embosomed in human 
affection, others died girt with fire at the stake ; 
some were summoned home from squalid pov- 
erty, while another forsook an earthly palace 
for a heavenly ; and another clomb the sky with 
a chariot of fire and horses of fire. It is im- 

15 



170 THE PALM. 

possible to conceive experiences more diversi- 
fied than their recorded history would exhibit. 
Yet two characteristics are alike in all. They 
are all white-robed, all palm -bearing. They 
have all been washed in blood ; they have all 
fought a good fight, and won a goodly victory. 
Or, to translate it into apostolic language, they 
are all justified and all sanctified. And sanc- 
tification implies trial and triumph. "Who re- 
pines, then, that he is constrained to wage a 
daily war? None but soldiers stand before 
the throne, and before the Lamb, — white- 
robed, palm-bearing soldiers. Doubt not the 
issue; -for "in all these things we are more 
than conquerors through Him that loved us."* 

* Rom. viii. 31. 



f Iprtg-^iglvtir flaming, 

THY HIDDEN ONES. 

M They have consulted against thy hidden ones." — 
Psa. lxxxiii. 3. 

We may draw sweet and almost inexhaust- 
ible instruction from the names given to the 
children of God in Scripture. This title of 
the Lord's hidden ones is full of consolation. 
How many a Lazarus is there whom the world 
in its giddy course of pride, or reclining in its 
purple luxury, disdains to feed with its super- 
fluous crumbs! And at times the poor suf- 
ferer himself may make his moan, "I am 
forgotten as a dead man out of mind." It is 
so different to suffer in an amphitheatre of 
admiring spectators, and to languish in solitary 
grief, unwitnessed and unknown. Yet is this 
no unfrequent badge of discipleship. The ser- 



172 THY HIDDEN ONES. 

vant is not greater than his Lord. He was 
despised and rejected of men. " Therefore the 
world knoweth us not, because it knew him 
not."* You see your calling then, concealed 
saint, one of the Lord's hidden ones, — hidden 
from the glare and glitter of the world, and 
the pomps and passions of life : hidden in 
respect of your tears and trials, your joys and 
felicities : hidden as to your true inalienable 
glory, — a child of Grod, an heir of blissful im- 
mortality ; a king and priest unto our God 
forever. Yes, hidden now, and many stormy 
waves about you ; but what a hiding-place. 
"In the time of trouble he shall hide me in 
his pavilion ; in the secret of his tabernacle 
shall he hide me."f Those who are admitted 
to the private apartments of their sovereign, 
are not wont to complain of their seclusion. 
And mark the next clause ; u He shall set me 
up upon a rock." Those who are now hidden 
in the clefts of the Eock of ages, shall one day 
stand thereon and sing. 

* 1 John, iii. i. f Psa, xxvii. 5. 



SECRET LIFE. 173 

EVENING. 
SECRET LIFE. 

"Your life is hid -with Christ in God " — Col. iii. 3. 

Let us trace a little further the hidden well- 
spring of a Christian's life, for its forth-flowing 
streams are fresh and invigorating, even as 
cold waters to a thirsty soul. Would we, in- 
deed, discover its original source, we must 
travel further than the " utmost bound of the 
everlasting hills,"* even to the recesses of a 
past eternity, wherein "the God and Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ hath chosen us in him 
before the foundation of the world ;"f so that 
with David we must confess, " With thee is 
the fountain of life, "J hidden with Christ in 
God. But let us come to the earliest stage of 
our own experience of this life, the first pulse 
that quivered through our inanimate soul. 
Here too it is hidden with Christ in God ; for 
God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love 

* GeD. xlix. 26. + Eph. i. 3, 4. \ Psa. xxxvi. 9. 

15* 



174 SECRET LIFE. 

wherewith he loved us, even when we were 
dead in sins, hath quickened ns together with 
Christ :"* so is every one that is born of the 
Spirit. Nor when animated and quickened 
could, the soul maintain its life for one mo- 
ment if this vital cord, in any part of its 
illimitable length, were broken or severed ; 
" Because I live," says our Lord, "ye shall 
live also."f " If a man abide not in me, he is 
cast forth as a branch, and is withered." $ 
While the man that abides in Christ is as a 
tree planted by the waters, that seeth not 
when heat cometh, but whose leaf is green ; 
that is not careful in the year of drought, nor 
ceases from yielding fruit. § O blessed hidden 
life, enveloped, and again enveloped in the 
depths of everlasting love ; so hidden that 
neither godless man nor raging devil can dis- 
cover its secret fountain, nor the icy grasp of 
death check its unobserved, uninterrupted 
flow. To depart is far better; for we only 

* Eph. ii.4, 5. f John, xiv. 19. 

X John, xv. 6. § Jer. xviL 8. 



SECRET LIFE. 175 

draw nearer to the centre of our life — it is to 
be with Christ. And ere long the necessity 
for concealment shall be done away — ere long 
creation will hail "the manifestation of the 
sons of God ;"* for " when Christ, who is our 
life, shall appear, then shall we also appear 
with him in glory."f 

* Rom. viii. 19. f CoL iil 4. 



THE ANGELS' SPECTACLE. 

' We are ma-de a spectacle . . to angels/' — 1 Cor. iv. 9. 

Chistians in general have to walk under 
the keen observation of the world. Many 
eyes watch for their halting. There are many 
Herods who fear them, knowing that they are 
just and holy, and observe them.* They made 
a spectacle to the world and to men ; and 
herein have many an opportunity of glorify- 
ing the Captain of their salvation by faithful 
and soldier-like demeanor. But no saint, how- 
ever secluded his retirement, is without spec- 
tators, who bend, upon every movement, the 
untiring gaze of angelic intelligence. " We 
are made a spectacle to angels." , When first 
the weeping eye of faith was fixed upon a 
crucified Saviour, there was joy in the presence 

* Mark, vi. 20 



THE angels' spectacle. 177 

of the angels of God over that repenting sin- 
ner. Even of the little ones who believe in 
him, Christ declares, "Their angels do always 
behold the face of my Father which is in hea- 
ven."* And as the pilgrim-soldier fights his 
way to Canaan, "are they not all ministering 
spirits, sent forth to minister for them who 
shall be heirs of salvation ?"f Nor is theirs a 
listless ministry ; for " we wrestle not against 
flesh and blood, but against principalities, 
against powers, against the rulers of the dark- 
ness of this world, against wicked spirits in 
high places.":}: And round about every ran 
somed soul is there " war in heaven ;" the 
blessed angels militant against the dragon and 
his angels, who fight though they prevail not.§ 
For thanks be to God, who giveth us the vic- 
tory through our Lord Jesus Christ. From 
which we may gather, that the seclusion of 
any child of God is more apparent than real ; 
and when no human eye discerns the struggles 

* Matt, xviii. 10. f Heb. i. 14. 

£Epb. vi. 12, margin. § Rev. xii. 7. 



178 THE VIEWLESS CAMP. 

of his faith, and no human ear catches his 
whispered supplication, then may he be the 
object of intensest interest to the battling ar- 
mies of heaven and hell. The restless mur- 
mur of impatience or unbelief awakens scoffs 
of fiendish triumph in the ranks of his ma- 
lignant foes ; while the low breathings of resig- 
nation and faith kindle the joyous gratulations 
of his angelic guards. And when the disem- 
bodied spirit forsakes its " ruined tent," at 
once they emerge from their viewless obscurity, 
and the deserted Lazarus is carried by the angels 
into Abraham's bosom. Solitary believer, thou 
art not alone, for there be many with thee. 



EVENING. 
THE VIEWLESS CAMP. 

"And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; 
and he saw ; and he-hold the mountain was full of 
horses and chariots of fire round ahout Elisha." — 
2 Kings, vi. 17. 

If there were any question on which side 
j£ the contending spiritual armies might and 



THE VIEWLESS CAMP. 179 

right preponderated, there would be nothing 
of consolation, nay there would be something 
exceedingly oppressive in the thought, that 
we were the objects of the sleepless vigilance 
of viewless and powerful spirits. Then might 
we be ready to exclaim with Elisha's servant, 
" Alas, my master! how shall we do?"* But 
we need not cast about for an answer. " Fear 
not," the prophet replies, "for they that be 
with us are more than they that be with them." 
And how inexplicable soever this might ap- 
pear to his attendant, when the eye of sense 
was couched, and the scales fell before the 
prayer of faith, it was found to be nothing 
but the simple unadorned truth. The king of 
Syria came " with horses and chariots, and a 
great host."f But the King of heaven de- 
spatched an army of like description, but of 
immeasurably superior might : " horses and 
chariots of fire" encamping round about Elisha ; 
and not a cloud of fear flung its shadow on the 
soul of the faithful prophet. 

* 2 Kings, vi. 15. f 2 Kings, vi 14 



180 THE VIEWLESS CAMP. 

Believer, you are, and will be to the end, 
surrounded with the hosts of heaven and of 
hell. Yet, be of good cheer, you are upon the 
conquering side ; you can ask triumphantly 
with Job — " Is there any number of his ar- 
mies?"* Think you that He, to whose rescue 
twelve legions of angels would have sped at 
the slightest permissive beck, will suffer you 
to lie exposed to the malignant powers of 
darkness ? — nay, he hath given commandment 
to save you.f 

* Job. xxv. 3. f Psa. lxxi. 8. 



$attitt\ flaming. 

THE ALMIGHTY KEEPER. 

"With him is an arm of flesh ; hut -with us is the Lord; 
our God, to help us and to fight our "battles." — 2 
Chson xxxii. 8. 

Whatever comfort we may draw from the 
assurances which Scripture supplies, that the 
angels of God encamp round about us, and 
succor us in our spiritual warfare, still the 
Christian's confidence is not in these bulwarks, 
however strong, but in his impregnable rock, 
his fortress, his citadel, "whereunto he may 
continually resort,"* even in the omnipotence 
of the Lord his God. Many and mighty are 
the Goliaths of the rebel army who have fallen 
beneath the smooth stones of the shepherd's 
sling. How often has the half-stifled sob — 
"Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me ;"f 

* Psa. lxxi. 3. f Isa. xxxviii. 14. 

16 



182 THE ALMIGHTY KEEPER. 

the drowning cry — "Lord, save me;"* the 
wrestling ejaculation, " I believe ; help thou 
mine unbelief ;"f the tearful, trustful look 
upon the Friend of sinners, turned to flight the 
armies of the aliens. While we gratefully re- 
ceive the Divine promises of angelic aid, and 
while, in Hezekiah's case, who confessed that 
the Lord alone could light the battles of Israel, 
it still pleased him to use an angel's ministry 
for the overthrow of Assyria : far be from us 
any creature confidence, however lofty in the 
scale of creation the promised guard may stand. 
Shall we lift up our eyes unto the hills ? Our 
help cometh from the Lord4 And resting on 
this guardianship, though we never go out but 
the path is strewn with snares, nor come in 
but our home is beleaguered with foes, who 
may redouble their efforts as we advance in 
holiness and draw nigh to heaven, still we can 
echo back the Psalmist's confidence : " The Lord 
shall preserve our going out and our coming in 
from this time forth, and even for evermore." 

* Matt. xiv. 30. f Mark, ix. 24. X ^ sa - cxx ^- U margin. 



THE SYMPATHIZING SUFFERER. 183 

EVENING. 
THE SYMPATHIZING SUFFERER. 

" For in that he hath suffered being tempted, he is able 
to succour them that are tempted." — Hicjt. ii. 18. 

If there be one thing that a sensitive mind 
more shrinks from communicating than an- 
other, it is the history of its own inward con- 
flicts. Truly has the poet traced the working 
of many a " mourner's wayward heart." 

" Calm be the voice, the aspect bold, 

No shuddering pass o'er lip or brow, 
For why should innocence be told 

The pangs that guilty spirits bow ? 
The loving eye that watches thine, 

Close as the air that wraps thee round, 
Why in thy sorrow should it pine, 

Since never of thy sin it found ? " 

And none, perhaps, can describe, save those 
who have experienced it, the delight of meet- 
ing at such a time with an able, experienced 
Christian, who, divining by the true instinct of 
love the secret anguish of the heart, mentions, 
unsolicited, that he has passed through the 



184 THE SYMPATHIZING- SUFFERER. 

same conflict, and draws from his own experi- 
ence the reply to every unconfessed tempta- 
tion. Many waters cannot quench the love 
that will turn towards that " brother born for 
adversity."* 

But whether or no the Lord may vouchsafe 
a human comforter for such an hour of tribu- 
lation, remember, tried and tempted disciple, 
that he himself is by your side, and bends his 
gracious ear to catch every whisper of your 
tremulous lips. Oh, shrink not from " pour- 
ing out " your heart before him ; for hearken 
how, to elicit your confidence, he assures you 
that he was " in all points tempted like as you 
are," and is, therefore, " touched with the feel- 
ing of your infirmities, "f while, having baffled 
every temptation, he is able to succor you. 
Betake you to this Good Physician, for " he 
knows the wound that bleeds inwardly ;" and 
though you come in the press behind, and 
touch but the hem of his garment, you shall 
be whole.:}: 

* Prov. xvii, 17. f Heb. iv. 15. % Mark, v. 27 



iffftj-'first Hunting- 

COLLECTIVE SUPPORT. 

"And Aaron shall "bear their names "before the Lord 
upon his two shoulders for a memorial. " — Ex. 
xxviii, 12. 

These names of the cliildren of Israel were 
engraven upon two onyx stones, six upon 
each stone, and being fastened upon the ephod, 
were borne upon Aaron's shoulders when he 
went in to minister before the Lord. This has 
been with peculiar beauty interpreted to signify, 
how Jesus our great High Priest upholds his 
universal church by his omnipotence, and 
when he appears at the right hand of God for 
us, as our Mediator and Intercessor, bears the 
names of his people collectively before the 
Lord for a memorial. For the shoulder is the 
seat and emblem of strength ;* and the names 

* See Isa. ix. 6. 
16* 



186 COLLECTIVE SUPPORT, 

being thus unitedly engraven upon two stones 
of like nature, seems to manifest tlie equal and 
impartial regard he entertains towards his 
" whole family," his " one body," his " glorious 
church," his only "bride:"* and how all be- 
lievers ahke, of every century and every clime, 
rest only on his almightiness for support. 

Weak and weary disciple, is there not 
" strong consolation" for you in this living 
type? You have no doubt of the safety of 
many eminent Christians, whose faith and 
holiness have often attracted your affectionate 
admiration. Yet consider, all their security 
lies in this, that they are iipheld by Christ 
Jesus, that their names are borne upon the 
shoulders of their High Priest before the Lord 
for a memorial. Be of good cheer; their 
High Priest is yours ; your name is engraven 
side by side with theirs on the same stones of 
remembrance ; and remembering from whence 
your strength cometh, you can say with St. 
Paul, " When I am weak then, am I strong."f 

* Ephes. iii. 15 ; iv. 4 ; v. 27. f 2 Cor. xii. 10. 



INDIVIDUAL SYMPATHY. 187 

EVENING. 

INDIVIDUAL SYMPATHY. 

"And Aaron shall "bear the names of the children of 
Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon hia 
heaTt, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for 
a memorial before the Lord continually." — Exod. 
xxviii. 29. 

The names, however, of Israel's sons were 
engraven twice upon the holy garments which 
were made " for Aaron for glory and for 
beauty :" once upon the two onyx stones of 
the ephod, and again separately on twelve dif- 
ferent stones of the breastplate ; and in this 
a most exquisite truth has been deciphered. 
When the idea to be conveyed was support 
by omnipotent strength, there was a peculiar 
propriety in the names being grouped to- 
gether, all alike upheld upon the high priest's 
shoulder ; but when we come to the throbbing 
affections of the heart, we seem to crave an in- 
dividual place, a discriminating love: for "the 
heart knoweth his own bitterness ; and a stran- 
ger doth not intermeddle with his joy."* Now 

* Prov. xiv 10. 



188 INDIVIDUAL SYMPATHY. 

this is just supplied by the separate engraving 
on the twelve stones of the breastplate, each 
name by itself, each upon a different stone, 
though all were stones of price, and all bound 
closely upon the same beating heart. And 
"they were firmly set, not slightly put into 
the breastplate, for all the faithful were so 
firmly united unto Jesus Christ, that not the 
smallest jewel can be picked from the breast- 
plate of our Aaron by the joint efforts of earth 
and hell."* 

Blessed assurance, that the Saviour bends 
as undivided- a regard upon every lamb and 
sheep of his fold, as if no other object engaged 
his infinite compassion ! He identifies him- 
self with "the least of his brethren :"f He 
shares their griefs, and catches their whispers, 
and pleads their cause at the right hand of 
the Majesty. " Let us, therefore, come boldly 
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain 
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." J 

* M'Ewen on the Types, book i. chap. viii. 

f Matt. xxv. 40. % Heb. iv. 16. 



$0rt£-Su0it*r gaming* 

ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 

"Yea, he is altogether lovely." — Song v. 16. 

It needs not to tell the believer that this is 
a description of Jesus. For as surely as a 
child, if his father be talked of, recognizes the 
first lineaments of his character ; as surely as a 
wife discovers far off the portrait of her hus- 
band, so surely will the church discover and 
recognize, in One who is declared to be alto- 
gether lovely, her Beloved, her Saviour, her 
Lord. Other persons, other things may have 
points of loveliness about them, and, though 
all the beauty of earth is clouded with sin, may 
be said to be lovely in this or the other par- 
ticular. But One who is altogether lovely, 
within and without, in wisdom, in power, in 
love, now and forever ; this can be none other 
than Jesus ; this is, this must be the Lord. 



190 ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 

To muse upon his loveliness is indeed the 
cream of all meditation; it is handling the 
diamond among jewels, and examining the 
rose among the flowers ; nay, it is beyond com- 
pare. Draughts from this well-spring satisfy 
and exhilarate. " My soul shall be satisfied 
as with marrow and fatness, when I meditate 
on thee in the night watches."* "My medi- 
tation of him shall be sweet : I will be glad 
in the Lord."f The loveliness of Jesus is in- 
deed an inexhaustible theme ; it is like gazing 
on the clear blue sky at noon day, or the 
starry firmament at night ; there is no bound, 
no limit; and the closer we gaze, and the 
greater assistance we derive from science, only 
new and endless glories disclose themselves in 
the unfathomable heavens. Yet, fainting be- 
liever, be not repelled by the infinity of the 
object ; refuse not to climb the mountain, be- 
cause its heights are lost in unattainable light ; 
for, though you scale not the summit, you* 
horizon shall widen at every step ; you shall 

* Psa. lxiii. 5, 6. f Psa. eiv. 34. 



JESUS, MY BELOVED. 191 

see the loveliness of his omnipotence, which is 
placed on your side ; of his infinite wisdom, 
which is stored up for you ; of his unutterable 
grace, which descends from the highest, and 
stoops to the lowest, and seals every other at- 
tribute as your own ; and of his eternity, dur- 
ing the past ages of which "he chose you 
before the foundation of the world, w * and 
whose future ages you shall share with him in 
glory. Take with you the telescope of faith, 
gaze long and eagerly, for the views are ravish- 
ing, and the prospect boundless, though now, 
at best, " we see through a glass darkly."f 



EVENING. 
JESUS, MY BELOVED. 



M This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters 
of Jerusalem." — Song v. 16. 

An American traveller, wandering through 
the cells in Lambeth palace, in which the mar- 

* Ephes. i. 4. \ I Cor. xiii. 12. 



192 JESUS, MY BELOVED. 

tyrs of Jesus had once been confined, deci- 
phered these words traced upon the wall, Jesus 
amor mens ; " Jesus my love." No record re- 
mains of that now sleeping, once suffering 
saint ; but what a volume do those three words 
disclose. Is it not like being admitted to the 
inner prison at Philippi, where " at midnight 
Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto 
God?"* The night might be dark and star- 
less, the chain heavy, the prison loathsome ; 
but he who could write, " Jesus amor meus" 
had u a song as in the night when a holy 
solemnity is kept ;"f he basked in a better 
sunshine, for " the Lord made his face to shine 
upon him :"$ he breathed a nobler freedom, 
even "the glorious liberty of the children of 
God :"§ he dwelt in a kinglier mansion, for he 
kept himself u in the love of God."|| 

My suffering brother, can you say of this 
altogether lovely Saviour, " This is my Be- 
loved, and this is my Friend?" How does 

* Acts, xvi. 25. t Isa « xxx - 29 - X Num - vi - 25 - 

§ Rom. yiii. 21. 1 Jude, 21. 



JESUS, MY BELOVED. 193 

this a thousand time outweigh the lighter 

afflictions we are passing through ! We can 

easily credit the happiness of the Lambeth 

captive. But if we would realize it oarselves, 

we must, as he did, make Jesus our Friend, — 

share every thought with him, breathe into 

his ear every anxiety, rest on his promises, and 

thirst for his presence. 
17 



$attu-%\u* Dentins* 

THE PERPLEXING ALTERNATIVE. 

' ' Yet what I shall choose I -wot not." — Phil. i. 22 

A wise and tender parent had two sons, 
and knowing that, from his position, they 
would be called in riper years to fill influential 
positions in the state, he selected a school for 
for them with the utmost care, where the dis- 
cipline and instruction were exactly suited to 
mould their future characters. One of his 
children, deeply impressed with his father's 
wisdom and love, never gave himself a mo- 
ment's anxiety concerning his lot, but sub- 
mitted with a cheerful zest to every regula- 
tion. Not so, however, with the other; for, 
though his heart was not less finely strung, nor 
his mind less nobly formed, he was haunted by 
a continual impression that his father could 
never have designed them to forego so many 



THE PERPLEXING ALTERNATIVE. 195 

indulgences, and endure such manifold hard- 
ships. So, after much inward conflict, he de- 
termined to write his father a full statement of 
his discomfort and disquietude. His father's 
answer not a little startled him. It ran thus : 
" My son, carefully weigh the advantages and 
disadvantages of remaining at, or leaving your 
present position, and if you decide to return, 
come home immediately; you have my free 
permission." When the choice was thus un- 
expectedly thrown upon himself, the poor lad 
was involved in a labyrinth of perplexity. On 
the one hand, escape from his scholastic yoke 
was very inviting, and the thought of being 
with his. beloved father, filled him with joy ; 
but again he considered, " What if, in after- 
life, I should be called, with an unfurnished 
mind, to fill a position for which I am quite 
unequal ?" The embarrassment, while it lasted, 
was torturing, as the advantages, now of one 
decision, now of another, appeared to prepon- 
derate ; nor could he in any wise resolve his 
doubts, until he opened his mind to his brother. 



196 THE PERPLEXING ALTERNATIVE. 

His counsel was, that as their father must, 
from his vast experience and discrimination, 
know far better than they possibly could the 
balancing benefits of home or school, he should 
even refer the choice back again to his parental 
wisdom. This, with a certain shamefacedness, 
when he reflected that now his original posi- 
tion would be in no wise altered, he resolved 
to do. But the lesson was one he never forgot, 
for, ever after, while cheerfully applying to his 
present duties, he felt an unwavering assurance 
that he should be summoned home the earliest 
moment, which a judgment far superior to his 
own saw best for the promotion of his true in- 
terests. 

Even the Apostle Paul felt the perplexity 
of choosing between life and death ; though 
his singleness of eye marvellously helped him 
here, for he could unfeignedly declare, " To 
me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."* How 
thankfully may we repose in the blessed cer« 
tainty, " My times are in thy hand."f 

* Phil. i. 21. t Psa. xxxi. 15. 



THE CHOICE REFUSED. 197 

EVENING. 

THE CHOICE REFUSED. 

"Thy will "be dome." — Matt. vi. 10, 

The same principle that concerns the hour 
of our departure, applies to every daily provi- 
dence. Our difficulties would be immeasura- 
bly increased, if the choice between possible 
alternatives were left with us. Let us freely 
grant, with St. Paul, that the present affliction 
is not " joyous, but grievous;"* yet, were the 
Lord to bid us choose between ease and suf- 
fering — between riches and penury — between 
solitude and society — dare we take upon our- 
selves the responsibility of deciding questions 
that might affect the glory of Jesus, and our 
own highest interests ? Nay, we must refer it 
back again to the Lord, saying, " Choose for 
me ; thy will be done." How stands the case, 
then ? Why, the decision of our lot is with 
Him in whose hands, if we reflected for a mo 

* Heb. xii. 11. 
1*7* 



198 THE CHOICE KEFUSED. 

ment, we should, with all speed, place it and 
leave it. Why are we, then, like the disciples 
in the tempest, " so fearful ?" Alas I the name 
whereby Jesus addressed them befits us — " O 
ye of little faith!"* Oh that we might learn 
to breathe his own confiding prayer, M Never- 
theless not as I will, but as thou wilt."f 

* Matt. viii. 26. f Matt. xxvi. 39 



$0rt£-$0ttrtjj Horning- 

HOME SICKNESS. 

f( Now the man out of whom the devils were departed 
"besought him that he might "be with him ; hut Jesus 
sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house 
and show how great things G-od hath done unto 
thee." — Luke, viii. 38, 39. 

Who can wonder at the request of the poor 
maniac of Gradara ? Long while possessed by 
a legion of evil spirits, night and day had he 
wandered in the mountains and tombs, seek- 
ing rest and finding none. Yainly had he 
been bound with fetters and chains, for, with a 
strength beyond his own, he rent them asun- 
der. But now he had a Saviour ; the spirits 
had quailed and fled before the Prince of life ; 
the storm of his soul was hushed, and there 
was a great calm ; he sat like the gentle Mary 
at the feet of Jesus, and heard his word. 
Blessed change ! he was a new creature. Who 



200 HOME SICKNESS. 

marvels at his instinctive entreaty henceforth 
to live and die in the presence of his beloved 
Deliverer ? 

And does not as mighty, though less visible, 
a change pass over every soul that is truly 
born of God ? A child of wrath, led captive 
by Satan at his will, the unconverted man 
wandered far from his Father's house amid the 
sepulchral desolations of sorrow and of sin ; 
nor could all the appliances which human in- 
genuity might devise, control or cast out the 
evil passions of his heart. But in " the time 
of love," his Saviour passed by him, and said 
unto him, "Live;"* and the powers of dark- 
ness and of death yielded to the serene om- 
nipotence of that voice ; his heart was opened, 
and Jesus . entered by his Spirit, diffusing 
light and peace through every benighted 
chamber of the soul. Can we wonder if such 
a soul long to be translated at once to the 
presence of its newly-found Master? for a 
single glance into futurity reveals temptations 

* Ezek. xvii. 6. 8. 



HOME SICKNESS. 201 

and trials, sins and snares, thickly besetting 
the pilgrim path ; and the new man longs for 
holiness, while the old is ready to strike a 
traitorous league with corruption without. 
The prospect has appalled many a veteran,* 
and who shall marvel if the young disciple 
beseeches Jesus that he may be with him, and 
behold his glory ? 

Yet Jesus sent the healed demoniac away. 
He had a work for him to do, a Saviour to 
tell of, a story of experienced grace to publish. 
11 Eeturn to thine own house ;" go home to 
thy friends, and tell them how great things 
the Lord hath done for thee, and Jiath had 
compassion on thee. Oh, surely, we shall 
meet with some fruits of this mission of mercy 
in glory ; and one and another from Deca- 
polis will tell how they first heard from the 
cured demoniac of a Saviour's power, and 
sympathy, and love. 

Suffering believer, are you longing for your 
release? Is there no brother or sister, no 

* Psa. lv. 3-8. 



202 HOME WELCOME. 

friend, no attendant or nurse, to whom you 
can tell the story of your salvation, and relate, 
with the untaught eloquence of feeling, how 
the Lord had compassion on you? Would 
not another jewel in your Saviour's crown, 
a spiritual child of your own, be worth months 
— yes, years of waiting ? At all events, Jesus 
suffers you not yet to be with him in glory, 
but detains you as he detained this man, " at 
home with his friends." May it not be for a 
like reason ? 



EVENING. 
HOME WELCOME. 



"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given 
me, be with me where I am." — John, xvii. 24. 

The desire of a newly- awakened soul to be 
at once with Christ, is not wrong in kind, but 
only in date. It anticipates the Master's call, 
(and until his will is plain, ours must be 
pliant) but anticipates it at the longest only 



HOME WELCOME. 203 

by a few years. For his promise is as certain 
as it is cheering — " If any man serve me, let 
him follow me ; and where I am, there shall 
also my servant be."* Nay, we are continually 
encouraged to " set our affections" on this time 
of perfected communion with our Saviour, 
"looking for that blessed hope "f when we 
shall ever be with the Lord. Only let us 
keep our desires in harmonious subordination 
to the mind of Christ, and as soon as his .good 
pleasure has been wrought in us, and by us," 
his will to have us with him will give life 
and efficacy to our will to be with him ; and 
whether found among the quick or dead at 
his appearing, will draw us by an irresistible 
attraction in all the perfections of the spiritual 
body to his presence wherein is " fulness of 
joy," and to his right hand, where there are 
u pleasures for evermore."^: 

* John, jdi. 26. f Tit - "• 13 - X Psa » xvi - n - 



$attu-$ift\ SUntittg. 

COMMUNION IN THE FURNACE. 

1 And the form of the fourth is like the Son of G^od. ?, — 
Dan. iii. 25 

What an unexpected greeting must this 
have .been to the three children ! What a 
joyful surprise ! What a marvellous place to 
meet and hold communion with Jesus, — the 
midst of a burning fiery furnace, heated seven 
times more that it was wont to be heated ! 
That he should join the two disciples in their 
evening walk to Emmaus seems more reason- 
able, but who could dream that he would 
reveal himself here ? Shadrach, Meshach, and 
Abednego, though exposed to the scorching 
anger of the king of Babylon, staggered not at 
the faithfulness of Grod, but, with an invincible 
strength of faith, grasped deliverance ere it 
came, saying, " Our God will deliver us out of 



COMMUNION IN THE FURNACE. 205 

thy hand, O king." Yet, I question whether, 
amid all their -unflinching confidence, they an- 
ticipated such a time of fellowship as the God 
they served was preparing for them. They 
were driven from the throne of Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and cast out from the society of men, 
but it was only to enter the presence of the 
Lord, and to hold intercourse with the King of 
kings. Methinks they must have been right 
sorry to hear the royal mandate, " Come forth, 
and come hither ;" yet they asked not miracu- 
lous preservation when no longer needful ; but 
came forth refreshed from the furnace, their 
bonds alone consumed, to serve the Master 
they had seen with new alacrity in the high 
duties of their station. 

Afflicted saints ! three lessons lie here upon 
the surface for you ; and many others will be 
dug up if you work the mine, for the vein of 
ore is rich; but these three are manifest. (1.) 
Declare unhesitatingly your final deliverance 
— it glorifies (rod, abashes Satan, strengthens 
your brethren, and cheers yourself. (2.) Be 

18 • 



206 SUSPEND YOUR JUDGMENT. 

encouraged by the example of the three chil- 
dren to look for special manifestations of 
Christ's presence in affliction. Plead the 
promise which they realized.* Seek Jesus, 
and you shall find him. (3.) When he re- 
moves the trial, cheerfully betake thee to the 
active duties of life. Be not so enamored of 
the fellowship in the furnace, as idly to hang 
back when he calls thee forth. His viewless 
presence shall be with thee still ; and though 
in the world thou hast tribulation, still in him 
thou shalt have peace, f 



EVENING. 
SUSPEND YOUR JUDGMENT. 

4 We know that all things work together for good to 
them that love G-od." — Rom. viii. 28. 

There is so much in that expression, "work 
together." If you view some isolated portions 

* Isa. xliii. 2. f John, xvi. 33. 



SUSPEND YOUK JUDGMENT. 207 

of the Christian's training, they may appear 
most mysterious ; but if we will be content to 
" take it on trust a little while," till the Mas- 
ter's work is finished, we shall then, with 
overflowing gratitude, confess, "It is good, 
very good."* A skilful artist works the 
brighest and the darkest hues into one har- 
monious picture ; but if many of those who 
are in ecstasy with his perfected chef d'oeuvre 
had seen it in the process of painting, when 
he was plentifully applying sombre colors and 
cold neutral tints to throw parts of the land- 
scape into shadow, they would have been 
ready to exclaim, he was marring if not ruin- 
ing his work. " We are his workmanship ;"f 
but at present we know but "in part,":}: while 
our attention is of necessity engrossed by that 
fragment of the new creation which, if we may 
so speak, is passing through the Lord's hands. 
When we awake up after his likeness, we shall 
acknowledge with adoring love how sunshine 
and sorrow, " gloom and glow," temptations 

* Gen. i. 81. \ Ephes. ii. 10. % 1 Cor. ariii. 12. 



208 SUSPEND YOUR JUDGMENT. 

and triumphs, all worked together to form the 
spotless bliss of glory. We shall then discern 
that we could no more have done without the 
trials than the mercies of our pilgrimage ; and 
shall bless the faithful love which inflicted a 
momentary pain for an eternal issue of a bless- 
ing. Doubtless we shall confess it then; but 
herein is faith, joyfully to confess it now. 



THE FETTERED RACER. 

"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high call- 
ing of God in Christ Jesus." — Phil. iii. 14. 

In what position was St. Paul when lie 
speaks of himself as thus ardently and urgently 
pressing on?* A prisoner at Eome, shackled 
with bondsf for Christ's sake, dwelling " with 
a soldier that kept him";}: in constant restraint. 
There is something most ennobling in the 
triumph of the spirit oyer the body, which 
enabled him, when thus manacled and impris- 
oned, to realize that he was a racer in an 
arduous race, pressing forward with an intensity 
of holy emulation for the prize of his high 
calling. How easily might he, when stopped 
by violence in the midst of his apostolic career, 

* See Claude's remarks on this, in his Essay on Sermons, 
p. 10. f Phii. i. 13. % Acts, xxviii. 16. 



210 THE FETTERED RACER. 

have resigned himself to intellectual ease, and 
plausibly argued that, as the active labors of 
the church must now be carried on by others, 
he was called to rest from his unparalleled 
exertions, and calmly enjoy the quietude, 
though not the freedom of his hired house 
at Eome. But see him in that prison lodg- 
ing, working out his own salvation with fear 
and trembling; fighting the inward fight; 
following after ; apprehending that for which 
he was apprehended of Christ Jesus. See 
him burning with anxiety for the souls of 
others, reasoning with the Jews, preaching the 
kingdom* to all who came, praying night and 
day for his converts, weeping over the enemies 
of the cross,f having great conflict even for 
those he had never seen,:}: and writing those 
epistles which have ever proved inexhaustible 
springs of consolation to the church of Christ. § 
Perhaps no two years of his life were laden 

* Acts, xxviii. 31. f Pnil - iiL 18 - t CoL "■ *• 

§ The Epistles to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, t<? 
Philemon, and to the Philippians. 



THE PK1ZE WON. 211 

with richer fruits of holiness and usefulness 
than those of his imprisonment at Rome. It 
was so with Luther at Wartburg. Suffering 
saint, it may be so, in your measure, with you 
in your retirement. 



EVENING. 

THE PRIZE WON. 

li So run that ye may obtain," — 1 Cor. ix. 24 

The example of the apostle Paul, then, 
proves that the charge to run and to fight be- 
longs not only to those who are on the open 
arena and battle-field of active service, but 
also to those confined in the prison-house of 
persecution, or the lonely chamber of af- 
fliction. They too are racers in the heavenly 
course, and soldiers in the good fight of faith. 
Settle it then in your mind, that, whatever 
your position, the inspiriting command is in- 
tended for you, " So run, that ye may obtain." 



212 THE PRIZE WON. 

But you say, " I am not a Paul ; I have 
neither his gifts, his apostleship, nor his in- 
spiration." True; but "if there be first a 
willing mind, it is accepted according to that 
a man hath, and not according to that he hath 
not."* Seek to attain his singleness of eye 
and heart ; and though you have but few tal- 
ents where he had many, you may lay them 
out at the same rate of interest, and receive the 
same welcome commendation. It is worthy 
of all note, that the servant who had doubled 
his two talents was greeted with precisely the 
same terms of approval, as he who had doubled 
his five. " Well done, good and faithful ser- 
vant ; thou hast been faithful over a few things, 
I will make thee ruler over many things : en- 
ter thou into the joy of thy Lord."f We are 
not here contending against degrees in glory, 
which truth seems plainly taught by another 
similar parable, that of the pounds ; where one 
servant is placed over ten cities, and another 
over five, according to their improvement of 

* 2 Cor. viii. 12. f Matt. xxv. 23. 



THE PKIZE WON. 213 

respective trusts.* But by the parable of the 
talents we are plainly taught, that they who 
faithfully "occupy" with few gifts as with 
many, shall equally " have praise of God,"f 
and all alike shall " enter into the joy of their 
Lord." What more could the most ardent 
racer obtain, the most glowing Christian anti- 
cipate, than his Master's approval and his 
Master's joy ? Oh, let us then so run, not as 
uncertainly, but "with patience," that we may 
obtain. 

* See Luke, xix. 12-19. f * Cor - fa & 



$iittU-$tbnt\ Panting. 

SIMPLICITY OF PRINCIPLE. 

"If therefore thine eye he single, thy whole "body shall 
he fall of light.' , — Matt. vi. 22. 

We have seen that it is not the richness of 
gifts, nor the variety of endowments, which 
the Lord chiefly regards, but the fidelity with 
which the talents he has given are employed. 
How unspeakably important, then, to seize the 
right guiding principle, and to work it out in 
those fields which produce the largest return. 
What, then, has given singleness of eye to St. 
Paul, and the holiest men of all ages ? Simply 
this — they lived for the glory of Christ. To 
them "to live was Christ;" Christ was their 
life. Take Christ away, and life would have 
had no meaning, no interest for them. And 
how did they work out this principle ? They 



SIMPLICITY OF PRINCIPLE. 215 

clearly perceived that, as ransomed sinners, 
they could most advance their Saviour's glory 
by the highest attainment of personal holiness, 
and by the widest diffusion of his gospel in 
their power. To these two objects, accord- 
ingly — which mutually act and re-act upon 
each other — they bent all the strength of their 
understanding, will, and affections ; for they 
saw that other things, as business, influence, 
intellectual superiority, except for their bear- 
ing upon the cause of Christ, would never 
stand the shock of death ; and, therefore, that 
their Master's glory could not be reflected from 
these things through the endless ages of eter- 
nity. Therefore, one evil passion overcome, 
one holy affection implanted, was more valued 
by them than any worldly acquisition ; and 
they rejoiced "more to bring a sinner to the 
foot of the cross, than to receive the fame and 
riches of the universe. This one principle 
disentangled a thousand perplexities for them, 
and gave that beautiful evenness and simpli- 
city to their life, which so attracts our sym- 



216 MULTIPLICITY OF DETAILS. 

patty. Whether called to work or to suffer, 
to be preachers or prisoners, still " one thing 
they did ;" for the shifting circumstances of 
life were only so many changing scenes, 
whereon to develop their one unchanging 
principle — " to live for Christ." 



EVENING. 
MULTIPLICITY OF DETAILS. 

"She hath, done what she could." — Mare, xiv. 8. 

But you say, " Were they not for the most 
part employed in such great works, as the con- 
version of the heathen, or the ministry of the 
word? The very grandeur of their pursuits 
gave a dignity to their life ; while my mind is 
distracted by the innumerable littlenesses and 
fretting interruptions of a sick-chamber." This 
objection is, I am persuaded, more apparent 
than solid. We view their life as a whole; 
and, therefore, our impressions of it have an 



MULTIPLICITY OF DETAILS. 217 

air of completeness ; but, could we descend to 
the particularities of every day, could we stand 
by St. Paul in the workshop at Corinth, we 
should discern how it was principle carried out 
into the smallest matters that gave unity to 
their course. Nothing is trivial with God that 
is a test of character. The plucking of an 
apple brought sin and death into the world. 
A cup of cold water, rightly given, shall not 
lose its reward. " The Lord weigheth the 
spirits,"* day by day, in the even balances of 
infinite wisdom. He is weighing our spirits 
to see what judgment we shall form, or how 
we shall speak, or act, in the varying circum- 
stances of every hour. He does not require 
the administration of talents which he has not 
bestowed ; but every day may some holy dis- 
position be fostered, some winged prayer be 
breathed, some gracious word be dropped. 
And none of these things elude his observa- 
tion, who said of the lowly Mary, " She hath 
done what she could." 

* Pro v. xvi. 2. 
19 



HANDIWORK. 

'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of 
these my "brethren, ye have done it unto me.*'— 
Matt. xxv. 40. 

There is no more effectual way of relieving 
the tedium of a lengthened illness, and some- 
times of dissipating the gloom and despond- 
ency, than some little work of practical utility 
which requires only so much of exertion or 
thought as is within the sick man's limited 
powers. The inexperienced may easily refuse 
such apparently slender aid ; but the keenest 
intellects have ever been the first to allow how 
dependent the mind is upon physical occupa- 
tions. Dr. Chalmers writes in his Journal : 
. " It is not my duty to feel cool and comfortable 
when placed in a confined room ; but it is my 
duty to rise and open the window if this can 



HANDIWORK. 219 

restore me to my wonted capacity of exertion. 
It is, perhaps, not my duty to summon up a 
cheerfulness of mind in the hour of unaccount- 
able despondency ; . . . . but it is my duty 
to study, and if possible to devise, expedients 
for restoring me from this .... state."* And 
he goes on to advise some slight occupation 
as the unfailing expedient, such as " writing a 
fair copy of any old production, setting your 
books and papers in order, balancing your ac- 
counts, etc." 

May not the long-afflicted Christian take up 
this suggestion, and employ it in the service of 
cheerful charity ? If you know anything of 
your own neighborhood, there are probably 
many cases of poverty and distress close at 
hand, which in planning to relieve, you might 
employ many a weary hour, Believe me, the 
basket of provision, or the parcel of apparel 
you have provided with your own hands, will 
cheer another sufferer beside the poor cottager 
to whom you send it. And if you know not 

* Chalmers' Life, vol. i. p. 165. 



220 HANDIWORK. 

of suitable objects near you, so many blessed 
societies now penetrate every haunt of misery 
and sin, that if yon will but make yourself 
acquainted with their touching reports, and 
then with your own hands, perhaps by the pro- 
ceeds of your needle or your pencil, minister 
to their necessities, you will shortly find that 
you identify yourself with their work. If not 
yourself the good Samaritan, you filled his 
wine-flask, and replenished his cruse of oil. 
And thus days that would have wearily 
" dragged through," if the mind had been 
preying on itself, will, almost unawares, glide 
by in such ministries of love. If the author 
of this little book only persuaded one sufferer 
to make this a matter of persevering toil, he 
should feel it a cause for deep thankfulness ; 
for he is fully convinced how successful is the 
expedient, and how grateful the effort to Him 
who will welcome his wondering children with 
the words, " Ye have done it unto me." 



TRADE WITH PENCE. 22£ 

EVENING. 
TBADE WITH PENCE, 



•'Whosoever nath, to him shall be given, and he shall 
have more abundance." — Matt. xiii. 12. 



It is with charity as with the other graces 
of the gospel : Christianity is not a plain, but 
a mountain; not a passage, but a staircase. 
Every step we attain in faith and love is a 
starting point for something higher. " The 
way of life is above to the wise." And so we 
shall find that if we faithfully use the oppor- 
tunities of usefulness which the Lord affords, 
though perhaps they may seem very few and 
scanty now, He will give more. This is his 
prerogative, " He giveth more grace."* There 
are very few Christians, however deeply tried, 
however severe their sufferings, who might 
not with the ingenuity of love discover some 
thing they might do themselves for Christ's 
cause and people, some crevice into which the 

* James, iv. 6. 
19* 



222 TKADE WITH PENCE. 

wedge of charity might be inserted. Trade 
with, these pence, and pounds shall be entrust- 
ed to you : for " he that is faithful in that 
which is least is faithful also m much." 



|0rta-|Ki!it|j Horning- 

WORK REWARDED. 

'He shall reward every man according to his works. n — • 
Ma.tt. xvi. 27. 

The gracious " promise"* of the reward 
according to works, when apprehended by a 
lively faith, which builds entirely on the 
finished work of Jesus for pardon and ac- 
ceptance, is one of peculiar comfort to the 
much-laboring, or the much-suffering be- 
liever. As a faithful living witness writes : 
" It sustains under all suffering, by the con- 
viction, that its full fruit will be yielded, and 
its full results reaped hereafter. Many seem 
to suffer as if they should be none the gainers, 
and as if the results will be just the same as in 
the case of their friends and neighbors, who 
have been exposed to no such trials. Hence 

* See Psa. lxii. 12 



224 WORK REWARDED. 

they often seem to feel a sort of Christian 
fatalism, if we may be allowed the expression : 
1 1 have no doubt it will be for my good ; I 
am sure I need it ;' and so on, without any 
intelligent idea in what they are to be the bet- 
ter, when there can be no question that, in an 
ordinary way, they are gaining much by such 
trials, and that they will reap much hereafter 
which they never would have reaped without 
them. Active labor and patient suffering are 
thus each working out their blessed fruits in 
their own way. 77 * 

Therefore in entreating any sufferers, both 
for their own sake and the cause of Christ, to 
labor as far as their physical powers permit^ 
I would beg them to remember again, " They 
also serve who only stand and wait ; 77 that suf- 
fering is accounted work for Christ, because it 
fulfils his will ; that it is a proof of our son- 
ship ;f a pledge of our discipleship ; 77 ;j: an 
earnest of our crown and kingdom ;§ and that, 

* " Good Things to come," p. 360 : Sermon, by Rev. C. J. 
Goodheart, of Reading. 

f Heb. xii. 8. \ 1 Pet. ii. 21. § 2 Tim. ii. 12. 



UNEQUAL COMPARISONS. 225 

in the emphatic language of St. Paul, " our 
light affliction, which is but for a moment, 
worketh for us a far more exceeding and an 
eternal weight of glory."* 



EVENING. 

UNEQUAL COMPARISONS. 

" For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time 
are not worthy to "be compared with the glory which, 
shall be revealed in us." — Rom. viii. 18. 

How blissful an employment will it be here- 
after, in "the mansions of the kingdom, to place 
the past sufferings and the present glory side 
by side, when at every stage of the comparison 
we are constrained to break out into astonish 
ment and delight, " Who would have imaginec 
such an issue? how little now do my trials ap- 
pear ! who would not have passed through fifty 
times as much of sorrow to reach this blessed 
land ? Ah, that illness ; that disappointment ; 

* 2 Cor. iv. 11. 



226 UNEQUAL COMPARISONS. 

that loss : I see now wherefore it was sent : all 
was mercy. How could I ever be so impatient 
and disquieted ! how little I knew its fruit ! 
Hallelujah! for the sorrows, as for the joys 
of my pilgrimage, again I say, Hallelujah !" 
Again, how shall we contrast every earthly 
grief with its heavenly counterpart of glory ? 
once pilgrims, now possessors ; once warriors, 
now victors ; once wrestling, now resting ; once 
sighing, now singing ; even as the prophet so 
exquisitely foretells that appointed portion 
which the Saviour should confer on those who 
mourn in Zion, even " beauty for ashes, the 
oil of joy for mourning, the garment pf praise 
for the spirit of heaviness." * 

* Isa. lxi. 3. 



IF NEED BE. 
" If need be."— 1 Pet i. 6. 

Wherein did the absolute necessity lie for 
these " manifold temptations?" Had not the 
apostle just spoken of those to whom he wrote 
as "elect according to the foreknowledge of 
God the Father, through sanctification of the 
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the 
blood of Jesus ;* as born "to an inheritance 
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth 
not away ;"f as "kept by the power of Grod 
through faith unto salvation ?"{ Surely if any 
believers might have an unwavering assurance 
of their own final salvation, they might whom 
an inspired apostle addressed in such words 
as these. Yea, doubtless they were perfectly 

* 1 Pet i. 2. t 1 Pet - «• * X l Pet - * 6 - 



228 IF NEED BE. 

safe ; they were the sheep of Christ who should 
never perish ;* their names were in the book 
of life. How then does he say of them, 
" though now for a season, if need be, ye are 
in heaviness through manifold trials?" We 
may learn from this, that simple salvation — 
that is, escape from wrath and admission into 
heaven — is by no means the whole of God's 
counsel of love towards each redeemed soul. 
There was a "need be" for these many and 
fiery trials, ay, for their feeling the accumu- 
lated weight of them, and being in heaviness 
on^account of them. What was this need be ? 
Probably much of the infinite wisdom which 
saw trial indispensable, though we know not 
now, we shall know hereafter ; part may never 
be revealed, but thus much we are told even 
now, it was "that the trial of their faith, 
though tried with fire, might be found unto 
praise and honour and glory at the appearing 
of Jesus Christ." f Unto their praise, or 
Christ's ? First unto Christ's praise and 

* John, x. 28. t 1 Pet - *• *• 



TRUSTFULNESS. 229 

glory, and from him reflected in them, when 
11 he shall come to be glorified in his saints"^ 
Suffering believer, though " elect, begotten 
again, kept unto salvation," what stronger 
assurance can you ask of the " need be " of 
the trial that is weighing you down, than this 
— it shall result in the increase of your 
Saviour's glory, and of yours in him? 



EVENING. 
TRUSTFULNESS. 



" O my Father, if it "be possible, let this cup pass from 
me." — Matt. xxvi. 39. 

Perhaps some afflicted saint has been cast 
down at the issue of earnest and united prayer 
on his behalf. He reads the free, uncondi- 
tional promises made to believing prayer ; "If 
ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do 
it."f He calculates on the security of his Sa- 

* 2 Thess. L 10. t John, xiv. 14. 

20 



230 TRUSTFULNESS. 

viour's pledged word, " If two of yon shall 
agree on earth as touching anything that they 
shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Fa- 
ther which is in heaven." 45 ' He betakes him- 
self to earnest prayer ; he engages the petitions 
of the faithful on his behalf ; he looks for an 
answer of peace, perhaps recovery from some 
painful illness, the dispersion of some spiritual 
cloud, the restoration of some beloved friend. 
I grant you that in very many cases the pray- 
ers are granted according to ''his heart's de- 
sire" and "the request of the lips,"f and that 
they would be so granted much oftener if we 
received the promises in their plain, literal 
simplicity and freeness. ' But yet, sometimes, 
in spite of faith and prayer, the suffering con- 
tinues, the darkness still is felt, the beloved 
one dies. 

Shall we for a moment entertain the whis- 
pered suggestion of unbelief? Where is the 
use of all your painstaking, and all your peti- 
tions? Nav; God forbid. We are content 

* Matt, xviii. 19. \ Psa. xxi * 



TRUSTFULNESS. 231 

to bide the verdict of eternity. But this prayer 
of our Kedeemer, in his hour of overwhelming 
agony, gives us, even now, a glimpse into " the 
deep things of God."* If it had been possible in 
the counsels of the Infinite Power, and Love, and 
"Wisdom, the cup would have passed from Jesus' 
lips ; but it was not possible, and the prayer of 
the Son of God himself is only answered accord- 
ing to its closing words of Divine resignation, 
" Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." 
Suffering believer ! if it be possible, if con- 
sistent with the highest glory of God and good 
of men, thy suit shall be answered in the very 
form thou art urging it ; but, if not, oh think 
not it is unheard and unanswered. It will 
bring down a yet richer blessing. The cup of 
wrath passed not from Jesus, but the draining 
of that cup presented the cup of salvation to 
the lips of dying sinners. Thy request may 
be apparently refused; but the faith which 
offered it is appreciated above, and is obtaining 
for thee " an over-payment of delight" 
* 1 Cor. ii. 10 



lifts-first Darning* 

THE "BUT NOTS" OF SCRIPTURE. 

w Trou"bled on every side, yet not distressed ; perplex- 
ed, "but not in despair ; persecuted, but not for 
saken; cast down, but not destroyed." — 2 Cor. 
iv. 8, 9. 

Fainting Christian, observe the "but nots" 
of this passage. The tribulation was very se- 
vere, but there was a certain point which it did 
not exceed ; the tide of trouble was very high, 
but there was a limit, at which it was said, 
" Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther ; 
and here shall thy proud waves be stayed ;"* 
and this point, this limit, was not beyond, but 
within the grace and strength imparted. Has 
it not been so with the saints of every age ? 
Look at Joseph in prison, Israel in Egypt, 
David in the cave, Daniel in the den, the three 

* Job, xxxviii. 11. 



THE "BUT NOTS"' OF SCRIPTUEE. 233 

children in the furnace — all were troubled, 
perplexed, persecuted, cast down ; and yet, in 
each case, there was a "but not," and a limit; 
and we, who can survey the whole chart of 
their lives, see how this boundary line was so 
placed by Infinite Wisdom, that they#were 
never quite overborne, and that from the very 
extremity of their trial sprang their brightest 
deliverances, and most lasting blessings. Nay, 
more ; has it not been so with yourself, fellow- 
pilgrim, in days past? Look backward ; you 
will see many troubles, perplexities, persecu- 
tions, falls ; but what I ask is this, Has any 
previous trial been too great? The waters 
have been very deep, but have you ever sunk 
under them ? Has there not always been a 
gracious " but not"? Oh, say not, after so 
many deliverances, with David in his despon- 
dency, "I shall now perish one day by the 
hand of Saul ;"* but imbibe his cheerful confi- 
dence when he pleads — " Thou hast delivered 
my soul from death : wilt not thou deliver my 

* 1 Sam. xxvii. 1. 
20* 



234 PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE. 

feet from falling, that I may walk before God 
in the light of the living ?"* 



EVENING. 

PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE. 

"And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil v/ or k, 
and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom." — 
2 Tim. iv. 18. 



Yes, these " but nots" shall continue all the 
way through. Trials will beset your road, 
but not insurmountable trials ; a passage shall 
be made through, or over them. Temptations 
shall befall you, but not unbearable tempta- 
tions ; for " God is faithful, who will not suffer 
you to be tempted above that ye are able ; 
but will with the temptation also make a way 
of escape, that ye may be able to bear it."f 
The waters of death may flow deep and 
rough, but "not overflow thee;"^: for " the 
Lord shall deliver thee from every evil, and 

* Psa. lvi. 13. 1 1 Cor. x. 13. $ Isa, xliii. 2. 



PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE. 235 

preserve thee unto his heavenly kingdom." So 
writes Paul the aged, when the time of his de- 
parture was at hand. Some years before he 
had expressed the same confidence in that God, 
"who delivered, doth deliver, and will yet de- 
liver ?"* he was not disappointed of his hope ; 
in nothing had he been ashamed ; every year 
but strengthened his confidence ; and now, 
after another signal deliverance "out of the 
mouth of the lion,"f without a shadow of 
distrust, he looks forward, even to the end, 
and cheerfully asserts no evil would be per- 
mitted to bar his entrance into the heavenly 
kingdom. Past, present, future, were alike 
radiant with mercy ; for he realized his own 
glowing assurance, " All things are yours ; the 
world, or life, or death, or things present, or 
things to come ; all are yours ; and ye are 
Christ's, and Christ is God's."J 

* 2 Cor. i. 10. f 2 Tim - iv - W« t x Cor - $L 21-23. 



liftjj-Snflttfo fuming. 

THE VICTORY OF FAITH. 

" Thou shalt deal "bountifully with me." — Psa. cxlii. 7. 

These words honored God. David was in 
the cave, praying and pouring out complaints. 
His " spirit was overwhelmed ;"* " refage 
failed " him ;f he was " brought very low ;" 
the cry was wrung from him — " Deliver me 
from my persecutors ; for they are stronger 
than I."J And even " whiles he was speaking 
in prayer, "§ the Spirit descends; he is strength- 
ened with might in the inner man : and from 
the dark cavern of Adullam rises the shout of 
victory, " Thou shalt deal bountifully with 
me." Oh, what honor this put upon God's 
faithfulness ! When a child is seated on its 

* Psa. cxlii. 3. f Psa. cxlii. 4. 

% Psa. cxlii. 6. § Dan. ix. 21. 



THE VICTORY OF FAITH. 237 

father's knee, and says, "I am afraid of 
nothing," the parent delights in its happiness 
and love ; but when the father leaves his child 
alone, and says, "Fear nothing, for I shall 
come for you ;" and the minutes pass by, and 
the time seems long, and the little one's heart 
is fall, and yet he says, " I will not fear, for 
father said he would come ;" — would not these 
words overheard send a keener thrill of pleas- 
ure through that parent's breast ? What gave 
the psalmist this blessed confidence ? He 
knew the bountiful heart of the God he 
served, — that he had all power, riches, wis- 
dom, and willingness. He knew his own 
pitiful condition, that it would appeal to the 
tender compassion of the Lord. He remem- 
bered, doubtless, former deliverances, — the 
lion and the bear ; the sword of Goliath, and 
the javelin of Saul, till his complaining was 
lost in praise : " Thou shalt deal bountifully 
with me." Did David miscalculate ? Let his 
throne and kingdom reply. 

believer, will* you not honor God by a 



THE VICTORY OF FACT. 238 

like affiance ? Have not you the same Father ? 
are not yon in touching sorrow ? have not you 
been holpen in days past ? No voice, though 
it be broken with, weeping, will sound sweeter 
in the ears of the Lord than this — " Thou shalt 
deal bountifully with me." 



EVENING. 

i 

TjHE VICTORY OF FACT. 

"Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath 
dealt bountifully with thee," — Psa, cxvi. 7. 

We have seen the victory of faith; now 
anticipate the victory of fact. Transport your- 
self a little forward. Perhaps in a few days or 
weeks the immediate trial that presses upon 
you may have passed over ; and, looking back 
upon the retiring cloud, you may be able to 
say, " Thou hast delivered my soul from death, 
mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling." 
But take it at its worst, — say that your grief is 
a life-long trial; that you must be a sufferei 



THE VICTORY OF FACT. 239 

all your days ; that your losses are those time 
cannot restore, — still, only transport yourself 
a little further. " The night is far spent, the 
day is at hand ;"* joyful tidings to one who, 
on the bed of tossing and of weariness, watches 
11 for the morning !"f they are meant for you. 
" There remaineth a rest to the people of 
God ;"J and all along the blissful ages of that 
eternal Sabbath — in the calm possession of 
unutterable joy, in the present enjoyment of 
that everlasting " massive" glory, in the per- 
fect fruition of overflowing love, in the society 
of heaven, and in the presence of God, your 
voice shall be heard amid the hymns of heaven : 
"I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath 
dealt bountifully with me."§ 

* Rom. xiii. 12. f Psa. cxxx. 6. 

| Heb. iv. 9. § Psa. iii. 6. 



I. 

"Cjofimfcu fim," ttt. 

Hebrews, xii. 3. 

And art thou faint with weariness, 
With suffering, want, or woe ? 

Faint through affliction's sharp distress, 
Or stragglings with the foe ? 

Have fiery darts on thee been hurl'd? 
• Is all thy cross within ? 
Or art thou groaning for a world 
Of sinners and of sin ? 

Have clouds conceal'd thy Saviour V face ? 

Has darkness wrapt thy path ? 
Why art thou weeping, child of grace ? 

Why trembling, child of faith ? 

Oh pilgrim, raise thy drooping eye 
From off that stormy sea ; 



241 



Consider Him, who came to die, 
And bear his cross for thee. 

Bitter the wormwood and the gall, 
And sharp the spear and crown, 

And worse, a million-fold, than all, 
His Father's righteous frown. 

Muse on him, suffering saint, until 

The sight enable thee 
To do or suffer all his will, 

Whate'er that will may be. 



II. 

Hebrews, xiii. 8. 

We here have no abiding home, 

We claim no fatherland ; but, driven 

By life's rough changes, onward roam, 
Earth's pilgrims, denizens of heaven. 
21 



242 



Yes, all things change around us ; years 
Fleet on, and comrades pass away ; 

The shadows of this vale of tears 
Speed past us, nor will brook delay. 

How blessed on this changing sea, 

"Whose sleepless waters sink and swell, 

To know one rock of truth to be 
Unchanging and unchangeable. 

Jesus, our God and Saviour thou ! 

The same from endless ages past, 
The same in grace and glory now, 

And while eternity shall last. 





III. 






(4 


%x\n 


P. 


f t 




Micah, ii 


. 10. 





" Arise ye, and depart, 

For this is not your home." 
Dear place then, lovely as thou art, 
Farewell, for we must roam. 



248 



Yet seemed'st thou fresh and fair, 

A home of light and love, 
Brightened with blessings everywhere, 

About its and above. 

Oh, linger not, nor look 

So sad, so half-resigned : 
For sin, upon earth's fairest nook, 

Hath left its trail behind. 

Death snatches by surprise 
"Your loved ones hence away, 

The circle gathers in the skies, 
And will ye, can ye stay ? 

11 Arise ye, and depart" 

To your eternal home ; 
" Arise," and cheer your drooping heart 

With better things to come. 



244 



IV. 

Psalms, lxxi. 3. 

Jesus, Saviour of the lost, 
My Bock and Hiding-place ; 

By storms of sin and sorrow tost, 
I seek thy sheltering grace. 

Guilty, forgive me, Lord, I cry ; 

Bursued by foes I come ; 
A sinner, save me, or I die ; 

An outcast, take me home. 

Once safe in thine Almighty arms, 
Let storms come on amain ; 

There danger never, never harms, — 
There death itself is gain. 

And when I stand before thy throne, 

And all thy glory see ; 
Still be my righteousness alone 

To hide myself in thee. 



ON THE DEATH OF R. B. 245 

V. 

0n \\t §nt\ si 1. §., 

A Village-school Girl, who fell sweetly asleep in Jesus 

May, 1851. 

My eyes are very dim mother, 

I cannot see you right ; 
Sit near and read my favorite hymn, 

For I shall die to-night. 

" Jesus who lived,"— yes, that mother, 
I learned it on your knee ; 
Well I remember where you sat, 
When first you taught it me. 

Oh yes, read on and on, mother, 

The words that Jesus said ; 
And think, long after I am gone, 

He bore our sins instead. 

Is the rush candle out, mother ? 
For all is midnight dark ; 

21* 



246 " ABIDE IN ME, AND I IN YOU." 

Oh, take my hand — I will not doubt : 
See, mother — mother, hark ! 

Oh, bright and blessed things, mother, 

My soul it is that sees ; 
Yet feel you not the rush of wings 

Makes musical the breeze ? 

Kind faces throng the room, mother, 

And gentle loving eyes : 
Dost thou not hear, " Come, sister, come," 

My welcome to the skies ? 

Is this the happy land, mother ? 

My heart is almost still. — 
The childless mother felt her hand 

All in a moment chill. 



VI. 

"JJfofo* in IU, wto 1 in j*»," 

JOHN, XV. 4. 

4 Abide in me, and I in you :" 
Ah, blessed, sweet commands ; 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 247 

Soft as the fall of early dew 
On parched, thirsty lands. 

Abide in thee, my Lord, my God, 

Omnipotent to save 
From all the dangers of my road, 

From Satan and the grave. * 

In thee whose wisdom none can tell, 
Whose grace no limit knows ; 

Whose love Divine, unsearchable, 
A boundless ocean flows. 

Then welcome joy, and farewell fear, 
And calm, ye wild waves, be ; 

If only, Lord, thy voice I hear, 
11 My child, abide in me." 



VII. 

%\t franufipratijoftt. 

Mare:, ix. 2-8. 

How blessed on this holy hill 
It were our tents to rear ; 



248 THE TRANSFIGUKATION. 

To see thy glory, and be still : 
" 'Tis good, Lord, to be here." 

Why should we seek the world again, 

Its scenes of toil and fear ; 
The rough and rugged throngs of men ? — 

u >rj^ s g 00( ^ Lorcl^ to be here." 

The sights and sounds of sin below 
Move many a sigh and tear ; 

Why from this tranquil mountain go ? — 
" 'Tis good, Lord, to be here." 

Thus often, in some favored hour, 

We shun the conflict drear, 
And say, while storms beneath us lower, 

" 'Tis good, Lord, to be here." 

Wait, my soul, a little while ; 

Soon, in a happier sphere, 
Thou shalt confess beneath his smile, 

" 'Tis good, Lord, to be here." 



THE FEAR OF DEATH REMOVED. 249 
VIII. 

Psalms, xxiii. 4. 

Thou speakest of the fear of death, its ghast- 
liness and gloom, 

And dreary shadows flung across the portals 
of the tomb ; 

Thou sayest that the best of men must trem- 
ble like the grass, 

When from the loved and lovely earth to un- 
known worlds they pass : 

Thou picturest the love of home, the light of 
childhood's sky, 

And askest, who could leave such things with 
no heart-breaking sigh ? 

My heart was pained ; and oft I thought, Can 

this be true of those, 
Who have on Jesus cast the guilt and burden 

of their woes ? — 



250 THE FEAR OF DEATH REMOVED. 

'Till, as I mused, the truths of God, like bea- 
con-fires at night, 

Gleamed forth from Scripture's vivid page 
upon my aching sight : — 

" I know that my Eedeemer lives ; and, though 
my flesh must die, 

By dying, he shall swallow up the grave in 
victory. 

Ay, in the shadowy vale of death no evil will 
I fear, 

For thou art with me, thou, my God, to ani- 
mate and cheer." 

So sang the patriarchs of old, before the veil 

was riven, 
Which from the pilgrim fathers hid the open 

gate of heaven : 
But hark, what clearer tidings now our songs 

of triumph swell ! 
" Christ Jesus hath abolished death, and holds 

the keys of hell ; 
He lives, and whoso trusts in him shall never, 

never die ; 



THE FEAR OF DEATH REMOVED. 251 

He lives, — this mortal shall be clothed with 
immortality. 

The portals of the tomb are burst; ye ran- 
somed captives, sing, m 

Where's thy victory, O Grave ? where, dark- 
some Death, thy sting?" 

No wild- dreams these, — I speak of things 

that oftentimes have been ; 
Of parting words that I have heard, and death- 
beds I have seen ; 
Of a long-loved father, circled by his children 

and his wife, 
With every joy to gladden earth, and bind him 

unto life, 
Who calmly said, "My children must not stay 

me from my rest; 
My work is finished, and I long to sleep on 

Jesus' breast ; 
Death cannot part me from his love — Lord 

Jesus, it is thou — 
I have no fear, my children ; for my Lord ia 

with me now." 



252 THE FEAR OF DEATH REMOVED. 

And gentle girls, too, have I seen, who seemed 

for earth too frail, 
Tread with a firm, confiding step, adown that 

lonesome vale; 
Ay, and on childhood's pallid lip have words 

of triiimph played, 
And tiny fingers, clasped in death, told, " I am 

not afraid." 
But why speak on of scenes like these, when 

every heart must know 
Some parent, partner, brother, child, who 

trembled not to go 
Where Jesus' steps had gone before, and he 

himself is nigh, 
Whispering above those boisterous waves, 

" Fear nothing, it is I !" 

Ours is the grief, who still are left in this far 

wilderness, 
Which will at times, now they are gone, seem 

blank and comfortless, 
For moments spent with loving hearts are 

breezes from the hills, 



THE FEAR OF DEATH REMOVED. 253 

Ajid the balm of Christian brotherhood like 

Eden's dew distils ; 
And we whose footsteps and whose hearts so 

often fail and faint, 
Seem ill to spare the cheering voice of one de- 
parted saint. 
But oh, we sorrow not like those whom no 

bright hopes sustain, 
For them who sleep in Jesus, God will with 

him bring again. 
Love craves the presence and the sight of all 

its well-beloved, 
And therefore weep we in the homes whence 

they are far removed ; 
Love craves the presence and the sight of 

each beloved one, 
And therefore Jesus spake the word which 

caught them to his throne : — 
" Father, I will that all my own, which thou 

hast granted me, 

Be with me where I am to share my glory's 

bliss with thee." 

22 



254 THE FEAR OF DEATH REMOVED. 

Thus heaven is gathering, one by one, in its 
capacious breast, 

All that is pure and permanent, and beautiful 
and blest ; 

The family is scatter'd yet, though of one 
home and heart, 

Part militant in earthly gloom, in heavenly 
glory part. 

But who can speak the rapture, when the cir- 
cle is complete, 

And all the children sundered now before 
their Father meet ? 

One fold, one Shepherd, one employ, one ever- 
lasting home : 

"Lol I come quickly." " Even so, Amen * 
Lord Jesus, come I" 



THE END. 



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